Markets in City stink as festival waste piles up

Days after Ganesha Chaturthi, the City is strewn with heaps of garbage, especially in and around markets.

K R Market is the worst hit as garbage has not been cleared for the last two days, according to traders. K R Market Flower Merchants’ Association president G M Diwakar said that over 50 tonnes of waste was lying in the dumping yard inside the market.

The situation is similar at the Russell Market and its surroundings where garbage is strewn all around. “At least during the festival season, garbage should be cleared. People from different parts of the State have been coming here for the ongoing St Mary’s feast. About four tonnes of waste is lying inside the market,” said Mohammed Idris Choudhary, general secretary of the Russell Market Traders’ Association.

In places like Akashvani Layout near Hebbal, New Thippasandra Road and Tannery Road, people have thrown flowers, leaves, Puja materials and other waste.

Despite an appeal by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the general public have not desisted from dumping the festival waste on the streets.

V Purushottam, president of Ulsoor Residents Welfare Association, said that the problem was not restricted to garbage. “There is also the noise pollution. Loudspeakers are blaring even after 10 pm. The Palike should take the police’s help to tackle this problem.”

Idol immersion

Meanwhile, the Palike says that as many as 94,404 Ganesha idols were immersed by Sunday.

“The number of immersions was high on Friday, the first day of the festival. More than 60,000 idols were immersed in the temple ponds on the first day,” a staffer in the control room at the BBMP head office said.

The BBMP’s Joint Commissioner (Health), K C Yathish Kumar, blamed the general public and stressed that the Palike had taken all stringent measures to maintain cleanliness. “The number of garbage trucks have been increased from 677 to 697 to effectively handle the waste during the festival.”

Mayor B S Satyanarayana told Deccan Herald that lakes would be cleaned once the festival ended. Rs two lakh has been allocated for the purpose, he said.