Waste dumped for 200 mtrs on KR Puram flyover

BBMP sees 'attempt' by garbage mafia to dent City's image

A day after the Clean India survey began across the country, garbage was found dumped for almost 200 metres on the KR Puram flyover in eastern Bengaluru on Wednesday in what the civic authorities said was an “attempt” to damage the Garden City’s reputation.

The reeking mixed waste caused inconvenience to motorists who were left wondering about how the garbage landed up on the busy flyover, which is at least 30-40 feet above the ground. A regular motorist, Sadashivaiah, said that he had never seen garbage being dumped on the flyover. “Such scenes are common in residential areas, but not on a flyover. This is something unusual and looks malicious,” he said.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) appeared to be thinking on similar lines as its east zone officials promptly lodged a complaint at the KR Puram police station, demanding that the culprits be traced and punished.

The BBMP’s Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management), Subodh Yadav, even suggested the involvement of a “garbage mafia”. “It could be an attempt to damage Bengaluru’s reputation when the survey is in progress,” he told Deccan Herald.

The survey began on Tuesday and will go on till January 20. Unlike previous surveys, it will rank 75 cities on cleanliness based on the opinion of citizens. People have to call a toll-free number and answer six multiple-choice questions on how clean they think their city is. The results will be declared on January 25.

Yadav said that Bengaluru’s garbage problem had thrown new light on the entire solid waste management business. “We could track that the City generates 3,200-3,300 tonnes of garbage every day but just up to 2,200 tonnes of waste reaches the processing units at different locations. The challenge is to trace the remaining 1,000 tonnes, which we are doing,” he observed.

When contacted, BBMP Commissioner G Kumar Naik said that he was unaware about garbage being dumped on the flyover. He promised to enquire with his staff and get the details.