JOIN USThe garbage problem has now spread to the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, the City’s prime lung space.
Heaps of waste, adjacent to the construction site of the controversial parking lot and adjoining the park’s boundary with the Siddapura Road, have been burning for the past two days, leading to a foul smell and smoke, walkers in the park said.
This comes close on the heels of media reports of the BBMP dumping waste in some of the lakes in the City.
However, nobody has a clue as to where the garbage came from.
“We don’t have an idea whether it is from the neighbourhood or from within the park. But what we do know is that plastic is being burnt,” said A Sridhara, psychologist and a regular walker in the park since the early 1960s.
He said he had seen several trucks and tractors dumping waste at the spot. But he is not sure whether the garbage belongs to the horticulture department or it has been brought from outside.
Recalling that Lalbagh earlier had a compost unit, he said he was not sure whether it still existed. Raju, another morning walker and a resident of Jayanagar, also has no clue where the garbage came from.
“Even if the waste is generated within the park, this is a very unscientific way of handling it,” he said.
Sadashiva Reddy, president of the Lalbagh Walkers’ Association, said dumping of waste was going on for the past two months, but it was set on fire only recently.
“Earlier this place was just a pit. When the lake in the premises was desilted five years ago, the excavated silt was deposited in the pit. We thought saplings will be planted here. But now, garbage is being dumped here and covered with sand.
They set fire to the garbage heap, following protests from walkers,” he said. Horticulture department officials were not available for comments.