BENGALURU: Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Thursday that only 30% of vacant sites have been cleaned by their owners though the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) issued a directive one-and-a-half months ago.
He revealed this after launching vacant sites’ cleaning work at Domlur. The GBA will only collect cleaning and transportation charges from owners of such sites along with property tax, but penalise repeat offenders, he said. It would be better if owners get their vacant sites cleaned instead of GBA initiating action to keep them clean.
“You can get the work done at a lower cost rather than waiting for the corporation to clean it. Keep your sites clean and contribute to the efforts to keep the city clean. I will personally send a thank you letter to those who have cleaned their plots,” he said.
Despite the directive, many have not cleaned their sites. Weeds and plants grown there cause various problems. Such sites have become home to flies, mosquitoes, snakes and rats.
This operation has been launched to keep the city clean, the minister said. On the cleaning operation, he said due to the restrictions on the movement of tippers, waste can be disposed of only once a day.
The cleaning cost has been fixed as per the SR rate based on the size of the site, he added. Byre Gowda said after the launch of the “Freedom from Waste” campaign on August 1, the GBA has cleared 67,152 tonnes of construction and debris (C&D) waste.