Clear up the mess!

The City has been wearing an ugly look for sometime now with piles and piles of garbage strewn all over. The reason — the ‘pourakarmikas’ had gone on strike last week. The strike is now over, yet most localities in the City have garbage lying around with dogs and rodents feeding off them.

This is a reality check for many Bangaloreans who have no clue on what to do with the waste. The stench emanating from these piles are unbearable. With dengue cases being reported, there is also the fear of a dengue outbreak as the garbage piles have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Megha, a graduate, says that it has been four days since the garbage has been collected from her place. She fears that dengue cases will rise alarmingly.

“It’s becoming very difficult to have hygienic surroundings. It’s time that the government took serious action about it. One keeps hearing about deaths due to dengue. The mounds of garbage will only aggravate the situation,” she adds.  

Some say that the only alternative to reduce the breeding of mosquitoes is to dump the garbage far away from one’s house. “Unfortunately, there are no dustbins around and we don’t want our road to become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. So most of us have to go three to four roads away to dump the garbage,” adds Prithvi, a professional.

Ramya, a resident of Malleswaram, complaints that many of the empty plots near her place have suddenly turned into dumping grounds. “It was a nightmare last week. With the strike of the ‘pourakarmikas’, the garbage kept piling up and so did the number of mosquitoes. Even though the strike has been called off, the damage has already been done. What is even more frustrating is that there is nothing much one could do about it,” she says.

Many colleges, however, took small measures like spraying medicine in and around the campus.

Kiren from St Joseph’s College adds, “Dengue is a cause of concern and as responsible citizens, we have to do our bit to prevent the outbreak. That’s why we ensure that the campus is cleaned regularly. The students too make an effort to keep it hygienic.”