Mayor livid over unclean KR Market, only 60 out of 120 workers on duty

Bengaluru: Mayor N. Shantha Kumari carried out a headcount of pourakarmikas at K R Market on Friday and rebuked officials as nearly half of them were not present. During her inspection she was alarmed by the mess at the market and had remarked, “We spend Rs 1 lakh everyday on cleaning KR Market and 120 pourakarmikas are assigned to work. Yet the market is dirty. Are all these workers even attending work? Make them stand in a line and count their heads.”

During the headcount it came to light that only 60 workers out of the 120 were present and even the garbage trucks were missing. Irked with this, she instructed the officials to hold a meeting and suggested the commissioner to take action against the erring officials and contractors. Later, she visited the flower market and urged the vendors to keep the premises clean.

“Former mayor Katte Satyanarayana has worked hard to keep the K.R. Market clean and to generate awareness among vendors. But by the looks of the market premises it does not appear that you all (vendors) have understood the need to keep the market clean. You all seem to be indifferent towards K.R. Market, but do you feel this area belongs to you too? Help the BBMP keep the market clean,” she told the vendors.

She asked the officials to take stringent action against shops selling plastic handbags with less than 40 microns and directed them to raid a few shops. Ms Kumari added that the processing capacity of the bio-methane plant would be increased shortly.