BENGALURU: With winter setting in, the skies are full of yellow smog, a result of fog and a dusty city, leaving many citizens worried about their health.Dust is rising up from the city's unswept roads. With pourakarmikas shying away from their duty, and mechanical sweepers not being used because of poor road conditions, it is commuters and pedestrians who have to contend with the dust.
Once again, a blame game has started over the poor condition of city roads. This time, between two sections of the same department -- solid waste management against road engineering section of the BBMP. A senior BBMP official said that since most of the roads are potholed or cut open, mechanical sweepers cannot be used. Areas where roads are tarred, are being swept regularly. Citizens will have to tolerate areas where the roads are bad, the official said.
"Many citizens point out that the roads are very dusty, making it difficult for commuters and even worse for pedestrians. A number of complaints have come in, but we are also unable to do much because of the bad road conditions. We are asking road engineers to complete work and clear the jelly stones, but this only makes matters worse. The road conditions also lead to a lot of vehicular emissions, so there is dust on city roads through the day," the SWM section official said.
The BBMP has not acted upon short- and medium-term goals prepared by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. It had listed maintaining city roads and emission levels as a short-term goal to improve the city’s ambient air quality.