Bengaluru: Have Bengaluru's corrupt political class finally cut ties with the garbage mafia that has held the city to ransom for a decade or more? Bengaluru Development Minister, K J George promised on Wednesday that he was cutting the garbage contractors down to size and that he was going to attempt a new tack to keep the garbage off our streets - empowering the pourakarmikas!
Admitting that there were complaints of some contractors monopolising the garbage collection system of the city, he promised to bring in more transparency in waste management and claimed that contractors themselves had come forward to give a list of the corrupt collectors.
Under a new policy, contractors would be expected to provide the BBMP with vehicles and drivers to collect the city's garbage, leaving it unexplained why there were no rodent-proof garbage bins in the city.
Accusing contractors of dumping garbage in public places, the Minister said that they would not be spared. "I have categorically instructed BBMP officers to impose a fine on those dumping garbage, and have suggested installation of CCTV cameras in spots where garbage is often found dumped," Mr. George said.
The Minister has instructed BBMP Commissioner, Manjunath Prasad to depute an officer to track offenders dumping garbage in public places and set up a separate cell to receive public complaints on this menace stalking the city. He promised to do night rounds to keep watch on public places that were commonly used to dump garbage. Representatives of the NGO however wanted contractors who failed to collect garbage, blacklisted and more incentives for pourakarmikas to do a better job of cleaning the city.
