With intermittent rains, the city is witnessing a deadly mix of rain and garbage in many localities, posing a serious threat to human health and the environment. The scenario is evidently grim in Kathriguppe Main Road, Chikallasandra, K R Market, Hyder Ali Main Road among others. The previous commissioner of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) might have garnered praises for his role in handling the garbage mess; with the showers, the garbage problem has resurfaced.
In many localities, already piled up filth has begun to flows onto the roads, causing inconvenience to the pedestrians and the people living in the vicinity. Speaking to City Express, N S Ramakanth, expert committee of Solid Waste Management said, "We have been pointing out the issue to the BBMP for a long time now. The situation will become even more worse in next 15-30 days with the new BBMP commissioner coming in and by the time the BBMP officials realise the gravity, the damage would have been done. The ward officials should make sure that the drains are clean on a regular basis and heaps of garbage are not accumulated on the roads."
Interestingly, there is a new trend that has been going on in the city. While cleaning the drains, the civic workers accumulate the waste from the drain near to the drain itself.
To this Ramakanth adds, "They fail to realise that the waste will flow back to the drain in case of rains. We need accountability and responsibility from the health inspectors, environment officers and the corporators and I had advised the previous commissioner to implement them and take the officials to task in case of failure. The corporator has the control of the ward and he is the best person to make use of it. If he wants, he can make sure that his ward officials maintains a clean ward."
Garbage accumulation and the resultant bacterial growth and stench could lead to people developing several infections.
The downpour will only add to the problem, as they are prime source of airborne and waterborne infections. In fact, there are chances of a rise in the number of dengue and malaria cases, apart from typhoid, jaundice, gastroenteritis and H1N1.
Moreover, uncleared garbage coupled with rain can result in groundwater contamination.
The need of the hour is for a system to be in place to address the issue as well as proper coordination between the corporators and the zonal offices.