BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is going the whole hog to ensure that the city is garbage free, at least visibly. While many solid waste management workers have been deployed on Covid-19 duty, the rest are being pressed to clear garbage blackspots across the city. The BBMP has identified 1,779 black spots and claims to have cleared 525 so far.
BBMP Special Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, Randeep D told The New Sunday Express that the priority is cleaning blackspots that had been there for a long time, while the new, temporary ones too are being cleared on a daily basis. He said ensuring that the city is garbage free and clean is also one of the contributing factors to control the pandemic.
Marshals and garbage collectors, deployed to clear garbage piles and penalise offenders, said that people are not garbage-conscious anymore. “Earlier, they displayed some awareness and responsibility and threw garbage at designated places, but now, no solid waste management norms are being followed. Taking advantage of the lockdown, they are throwing garbage everywhere,” said a marshal on the ground.
Garbage collectors said that apart from picking up garbage from homes, they have the additional responsibility of clearing blackspots wherever they see, irrespective of the jurisdiction. But the blackspots reappear soon after they are cleared, they lamented.