Garbage stares in the face

Unkempt stretches

Tech parks in the City may be fancy to look at but their surroundings are not quite so. There is so much litter right outside these places with used paper plates, plastics and food thrown around.

In most cases, these heaps are left unattended to on the sides of the roads or
disposed of in the surrounding areas.

The prime reason for this is the absence of dustbins in these places. Most of these tech parks have a host of small eateries in the vicinity. While some of these eateries have dustbins, the small dustbins are not sufficient enough. This results in the entire area being littered.

Employees say that these eateries are their lifeline and that they haunt these places after work or at regular intervals.

“These shops have everything one needs — from chips to tea, and cigarettes for those who smoke. We have big dustbins inside the campus but none outside the official area. Some of the hawkers have dustbins near their carts and shops but those fill up in the first-half of the day itself.

Then, we don’t have a choice but to throw it here and there. It is true that the vicinity looks very dirty, but what else can be done? I am sure everyone will throw the waste in the dustbin provided it is there,” says Mayank, an IT professional.
Tech parks like Embassy Golf Links, Cessna Business Park Building have many such small shops lined up outside their premises.

Some IT parks have dustbins lined near the gates, but employees point out
that these are not good enough.

“These dustbins are near the gates. It would have been better if these are placed near the small shops. I feel that the employees should collect money and keep dustbins near these shops. It is fine to eat in the restaurants inside the tech parks once in a while, but not always,” says Ashwin, an IT professional.

Harshad, who works in a tech park, says that by the end of the day, the open space outside many tech parks looks almost like a war zone.

“These vendors should be asked to clean the area near their shops or carts. There are many who clean it in the night, but that is not enough. If this rule is applied strictly on them, perhaps the place will be much cleaner,” he suggests.

Parvathi, a vendor, who has a small shop outside one of the tech parks, says that she does brisk business throughout the day.

“People visit my shop for biscuits during their tea-break. I make fresh tea and coffee, which is quite popular with the professionals. I keep a small dustbin, however, that gets filled up soon. That is why I clean up everything when I shut for the day,” she sums up.