Bengaluru: “We know we are not in a rich country. But does that mean we should live amidst human excreta? Just because we cannot afford a house in a swanky locality, should we compromise on the quality of life?” asks Arshad, and the fury in his voice simply explains his frustrations.
One of the oldest localities in South Bengaluru, J.P Nagar Third Phase is known by some of its major landmarks. The Jedimara bus stop is one such, but there is nothing to boast of about this landmark, fume residents.
The footpaths have turned into toilet pits and the slum attached to the bus stop only adds more woes. Arshad said, “Here are children, senior citizens and women breathing and living around human excreta. If not provide them better infrastructure, why not at least maintain cleanliness? Not just the slum-dwellers, even pedestrians and nearby residents are exposed to health hazards as the excreta attracts flies. How can the officials be so blind?”
In addition, the residents are forced to live with a ‘mini-Mandur’ kind of a situation. The bus stop is also a garbage dumping yard and it’s not just the slum-dwellers, who violate rules.
“The so-called educated crowd too prefers to come in expensive cars and throw garbage near the bus stop,” Anaika lamented. “For over two months the garbage remained uncleared. It gets cleared only when the mayor or any other top BBMP official is expected to conduct a ward inspection,” she added.
Like any locality close to a hub, the Jedimara bus stop is also attached to the Bannerghatta Road, hence witnesses bumper-to-bumper traffic.
“There is absolutely no value for human life. There are no skywalks, forget that even the pedestrian crossing has not been marked properly. Every time we try to contact the corporator, we get an excuse from his supporters.
We have given up hopes and are living on the edge. Mosquito repellents, meshed windows and shut doors are our only forms of defence,” rued Sudha, another resident.
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Why the area around Jedimara bus stop is in such a bad
condition?
We often hear residents complain about garbage menace and we do our best to maintain hygiene. We remove the garbage every morning twice- by 6 am and 8 am - but almost double the garbage gets dumped there again.
Why are you not able to do anything about it?
We have no one to watch and ensure that people do not illegally dump garbage. We cannot deploy a security guard to watch the bus stop. Moreover, people come on two-wheelers and dump their garbage during night and we are not able to stop this. Citizens must understand that solving garbage menace is a collective effort.
What do you plan to do to end this menace?
Just like how we have been unable to achieve mandatory garbage segregation at source, garbage management too has hit a deadlock in areas where there is lack of awareness. We are not able to get both space and cooperation.
There is no place to dispose the garbage, and similarly, we are not able to segregate the waste. People do not do it themselves and we are unable to find space to do it ourselves. We are trying to handle the crisis but it is going out of the hands.
