Nallurahalli residents wage war on garbage, remove 7 black spots

 With the aim of making footpaths walkable and free from black spots, Nallurahalli Rising, a movement of residents from the east Bengaluru neighbourhood, has launched a ‘war on garbage’.

The campaign kicked off on Saturday with volunteers eliminating seven black spots on the footpath that runs along a half-kilometre stretch from Nallurahalli junction to Brigade IRV Centre. Around 10-15 volunteers of Nallurahalli Rising, along with 15 local residents and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) workers, cleared footpaths of about 30 truckloads of garbage during the drive that started at 7 am and went on till 2.30 pm.

The group conceptualised the campaign five days ago. Srinivas Reddy, a local resident and volunteer for the group, said, “Almost all the footpaths in our locality were covered with garbage. We had to walk on the main road, which is used by thousands of motorists to reach Whitefield and the surrounding localities. That was too dangerous. We thought of this campaign to bring out a change.”

The next target for the group are garbage bins around Nallurahalli junction, said Shakespeare Dasarathan, a core member of the group. It will seek permission from the civic agency.

Residents say garbage disposal in the neighbourhood is far from effective, as people have been dumping trash on footpaths for years. The stretch between Nallurahalli junction and Brigade IRV is the worst-affected, with garbage strewn on broken footpaths. “We plan to meet up every weekend and do something for our locality. We are also closely involved in cleaning and maintaining Nallurahalli lake,” Dasarathan said.

The group, which has 10-15 core members, looks forward to expanding its base and inducting more volunteers for its civic initiatives in Nallurahalli which is part of Hagadur (ward No 84). The group has a Facebook page ‘Nallurahalli Rising’. Those willing to volunteer can contact it on Facebook.