Mahadevapura roads strewn with rubble

It might appear like the aftermath of a dust storm, but in reality the sand and dust on the roads of Mahadevapura is the result of intense construction activity.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has done very little to deal with the problem here. Residents complain that the BBMP is not cleaning up the arterial roads and streets, resulting in air pollution and flooding during the rains.

They are also indignant over the BBMP’s apathy towards unauthorised dumping of C&D debris on the roadside, pavements and medians by various agencies. All it takes, they said, is the mechanised street cleaning.

“The BBMP has deployed just one mechanised sweeper for the whole of Mahadevapura and cleans five or six arterial roads just once a month,” said Clement Jayakumar, a resident of Doddanekundi.

The mechanised sweeper is unable to cover the stretch of ORR from Lowry Junction till Iblur, a heavy traffic area that has more sand and silt on the roadside, Jayakumar said. “We need at least one sweeper per ward since the construction activities are increasing,” he added.

Residents complain that the authorities are only pointing fingers at each other rather than clearing the mess. “BBMP’s solid waste management department says it is the job of the engineering department as this’d be additional garbage, while the local ward engineers say they don’t even have a contract to remove sand on a regular basis,” lamented one Whitefield resident.

BBMP Superintendent Engineer Nataraj said they have proposed an additional mechanised sweeper four days ago. “We just had one with which we cleaned dust and silt from the major roads. We’ll have an action plan once the other machine arrives,” he said. “ITPL, Sarjapur and KR Puram.”

Nataraj also said the civic body is clearing the dust due to vehicular movement. “We will set up a separate dumping site for construction debris that will effectuate the mechanized cleaning. If two sweepers are not enough, we’ll ask for one more,” he assured.