Bengaluru: “If there is no space in the area, what else can we do? We have no alternatives but to segregate garbage on the service road near Outer Ring Road.”
This response from Mahadevapura Zonal Commissioner N. Devaraj’s comes as a shocker at a time when BBMP Administrator T.M Vijay Bhaskar is trying to book violators of solid waste management.
Pedestrians and commuters on Outter Ring Road have been complaining that a portion of the service road connecting B. Narayanapura to K.R Puram turns into a garbage segregation point between 10 am and 11 am every day. While pourakarmikas are busy segregating the garbage, the entire stretch is blocked.
Ms Manju George, a social activist, said that pedestrians and motorists are forced to take the main road as there is little space left on the service road. “Since traffic is lean at that time, we don’t see traffic jams. But most of the time, vehicle users cannot use the service road when garbage segregation is in progress,” she added.
Mr Devaraj, who agreed that the BBMP is segregating garbage on the service road, maintained that the segregation is not affecting the traffic.
“Most of the residents in Marathalli and Bellandur have refused to let the BBMP segregate garbage near parks or vacant sites claiming that it emanates a stench. If we do not find space, what else can we do,” he asked.
He said that as tipper lorries collect garbage from this point, it is convenient for the BBMP to transport garbage.
The Mahadevapura zone generates 15 tipper lorry loads of garbage and each lorry carries around eight tonnes of mixed waste. At present, the zone has eight permanent dry waste collection centres along with the four old centres. Construction of two centers is in progress.
The BBMP is now on an overdrive imposing fines on restaurants which violate solid waste management rules. Will the same rule apply here too?
