Additional 150 tonnes of waste generated this Dasara

Tourists continue to throng Palace, which is littered with garbage

One of the challenging tasks for the civic body in the city after the completion of Dasara is to clean the place that generated around additional 150 tonnes of waste, especially on Jamboo Savari day.

Around 10 to 15 tonnes of waste was generated each day after the start of Dasara. Pastic wastes during the season take a share of 40 per cent, a 20 per cent jump as against to the regular days.

Only in Scouts and Guides grounds where the Food Mela was held, about 50 tonnes of food remains was generated till the day of Jamboo Savari, and during Ayudha Puja, the city accumulated 20 to 25 tonnes of waste.

Mysore City Corporation Health Officer D G Nagaraj speaking to Deccan Herald said the huge amount of waste generated during Dasara was expected and that the MCC had taken all the initiatives to clean-up the filthy places near crowd pulling locations.

Additional civic workers were deployed to clean up the city during Dasara.

Palace littered

The day after the famed Jamboo Savari, Amba Vilas Palace was still milling with tourists, on Tuesday. However, the scenes witnessed inside the Palace was in complete contrast with what it was on Monday.

The Palace was littered with heaps of waste, left behind by the audience of the grand finale.

Children of the mahouts and kavadis were seen playing rag pickers, as they tried to pick up the remains of plastic bottles and anything that they found interesting. 

For the tourists who wanted to catch the beauty of the Palace, the waste of heaps was not a hurdle. Thousands of them moved along the debris which was littered all over the premises. While some enjoyed clicking pictures with their cameras and mobile phones, others paid the photographers there who printed the instant photographs with view of the Palace in the background.

Passing the buck

Meanwhile, the authorities kept passing the buck with regard to cleaning the Palace.

Commissioner of Mysore City Corporation (MCC), P G Ramesh, said that MCC was not getting involved in the affairs of cleaning inside the Palace, as it came under the jurisdiction of the Mysore Palace Board.

“But our pourakarmikas and the 280 members additionally deputed for the purpose of Dasara festivities, have cleared the waste on the Jamboo Savari route, and at the Torchlight Parade Ground, Bannimantap. The cleaning process started last night itself, after completion of the celebrations,” Ramesh added.

Deputy Director of Palace Board, T S Subramanya said, the process of cleaning activities and removing of the stages and chairs was tendered by Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA).

However, MUDA Commissioner S Palaiah as well as Superintendent Engineer Shivakumar clarified that MUDA had awarded the tender only for the chairs, stages, shamiyans, lighting and audio arrangements of the Dasara programmes in the city. Cleaning the Palace premises was not its responsibility.