Bengaluru: What is soon supposed to be the entrance of an upscale mall, is currently occupied by a heap of garbage, scrap metal and a broken autorickshaw. The pile of rubbish, some 75 meters long and about 20 meters high, greets you as you drive to Vivek Nagar, near the Regional Passport Office.
But BBMP officials have a “good reason” for not lifting the garbage, say locals . “They tell us if the area is cleared, slumdwellers will pitch their tents here and clearing a slum is harder than clearing a pile of garbage," says the owner of an electronic shop nearby.
Another local resident, 15-year-old Lokesh, complains he is not able to leave his home at times due to the unbearable stink from the garbage. “The smell gives me a headache every day, making it impossible for me to concentrate in school. Sometimes we bribe the BBMP to clean up this mess," he reveals.
"My children suffered from diarrhoea a while ago because of the garbage and we had a hard time treating them," grumbles Muniyamma, who lives in a nearby slum. Adding to the troubles of the local residents, their corporators are not ready to take responsibility for clearing the garbage either and are playing the usual blame game instead.
The rubbish heap is apparently in no man’s land as it is on the the border of ward numbers 115 and 116, and their respective corporators, Hegde and Mahadev, argue the area does not fall in their jurisdiction. Instead they point accusing fingers at each other for leaving it piled up.
The owner of the plot, Uday B Garudachar ,for his part, says lifting the garbage may be easier once the mall takes final shape.
—Inputs by DC intern, Varsha Viswanath
