Heaps of trash have begun to pile up in Bangalore again as disgruntled contractors and weekend showers have slowed down garbage collection across the city.
A senior official in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said the city may be left stinking if the situation continues for another couple of days.
Uncleared garbage was seen on Mysore Road, Silver Jubilee Park Road, near Dharmarayana Temple, Total Mall on Old Airport Road, Cleveland Town near Bharathinagar police station and other places.
Harsha, a resident of Govindappa Road in Basavanagudi said there were heaps of garbage at four places on the road, covering more than half the street’s width.
According to the official, existing contractors are upset with BBMP’s decision to float new garbage tenders.
“A majority of contractors are not interested in clearing garbage as they are not sure their contracts will be renewed. Hence, they stopped collecting and disposing garbage,” the officer said.
After a similar stance by contractors last week, Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy had intervened and requested them to continue work till the new tenders were finalised, the officer said.
Meanwhile, weekend showers that lashed the city and its outskirts, slowed down garbage trucks, which couldn’t unload the garbage at Mandur and return before day break.
According to Avlappa, a driver working in the Shivajinagar ward, he left the city at around 9 pm on Sunday and reached Mandur at 10.30 pm.
“On normal days, I return by 1.30 am or 2 am. But on Sunday, when we neared Mandur, there was a long queue of trucks and the unloading work was delayed. By the time it was 5 am, villagers who had insisted that BBMP dump waste only during night, forced the trucks to return without dumping garbage,” he said.
Of the 600 trucks that dispose garbage everyday from BBMP limits to Mandur, only 100 were operational since Sunday night.
BBMP commissioner Rajneesh Goel said that after the rains, entering Mandur became difficult.
“While Bangalore received about 6 mm rain, Madur recorded 50 mm. Only 100 trucks could unload on Sunday and another 100 trucks will dump garbage on Monday night. It will take two more days for normalcy to return,” he said.