BENGALURU: A group of women determined to make their area a better place for all pooled resources and hired men and machines to clear the massive garbage mound accumulated for years in a corner site on Omar Sharif road in Basavanagudi. The end result: one of the 15 individuals staking claim to the site has been issuing threats that cases will be filed against them.
Shaan Ahad and other women of a social service organisation, Vision 20, have pooled in Rs 25000 and supervised the clearing of the site for nearly two months.
"The garbage has been fully removed. We have thoroughly cleaned the place and plan to fence it so that it does not get ruined again. The garbage caught fire in July this year and we had submitted a written complaint to the BBMP. Now, we are getting threats conveyed to us through others by a site claimant," she told The New Indian Express.
Zakir Ahmed, whose house is just next to the site, said, "There is a dilapidated house there inside. All unethical activities including consumption of drugs, smoking and drinking and many unhygenic activities happen here. All we request from authorities is to fence the place so that this area will be out of bounds for all."
Another resident, Tamkin Kauser, a mother of three young children, is more worried about the menace posed by the stray dogs at the garbage point. "I never step out of the house without a stick. I saw one of the dogs chasing a girl and I had to shoo the dog away. I am in constant fear when my kids step out."
BBMP promises redressal
Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development, Rakesh Singh told The New Indian Express that he will study the issue in detail and take immediate steps.
"Not maintaining a site is a violation by itself. The issue will be sorted out by us at the earliest and there is no need for the women, who deserve all appreciation for their humane approach, to feel worried in any manner," he said.
Tushar Girinath, BBMP Chief Commissioner, said that steps would be taken to impose a penalty on the claimants of the site for causing health hazards.
"As a matter of policy we have decided to impose a fine on vacant site and add it in their Khata as arrears. We cannot keep on cleaning vacant sites and in case of disputed ones we will not be able to recover the money," he said.