BENGALURU: After having spent two years in the city, Satnam Singh decided to explore more of Bengaluru’s tourist offerings more than a month ago. And like many other newcomers to namma ooru, he too decided to start at the most popular sight of them all:
Nandi Hills. The 21-year-old, however, was in for a rude shock during his first visit. “There was trash everywhere. It was upsetting to see a tourist destination sport this look,” says the software engineer. Compelled by the need to change this, Singh decided to start an initiative to clean Nandi Hills, which will take place on December 7.
After his visit to the spot in October-end, Singh took to Reddit, a social media platform, to find like-minded people who would assist him in the activity. He was soon joined by Hivit Nambiar, Rahul N and Prasun Jaiswal, who along with him formed the core organising team. “We are expecting around 20 people to show up and hope to collect 3-4 bags of garbage each,” says Jaiswal, a 22-year-old student.
Inspired by the likes of the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, these citizens too decided to take matters in their own hands. “We did approach the Karnataka Forest Department but were told we didn’t need any special permission for this clean up,” explains Jaiswal. The team now plans to carry out the activity and wait for some months to see how long the place remains clean. “We do intend on approaching authorities again after this to urge them to take more action about the situation,” says Singh.
Agrees Jaiswal, who adds that while authorities can only aid in cleaning the trash, it is up to tourists and visits to not dispose garbage in the first place. He says, “We hope that maybe other people at the spot will get inspired when they see us picking up the garbage. Maybe they will try not to litter so carelessly.”
For details on being a part of the drive, check
t.me/ storm_nandi_hills.