<p>As Republic Day celebrations wound up on Monday, public spaces across Bengaluru were left strewn with waste ranging from paper cups and food wrappers to tricolour-themed printouts and plastic flags. Activists emphasise the need for stronger awareness and enforcement drives to make public celebrations eco-friendly and litter-free. </p>.<p>On Monday morning, volunteers from the Indian Ploggers Army Trust (IPAT) carried out a cleanup drive around Vidhana Soudha. They were joined by volunteers from organisations such as Saahas and Esaf Foundation, and workers from the Public Works Department. “In two hours, we collected nearly 14 sacks of garbage from the road off Vidhana Soudha,” said IPAT founder G Nagaraj. The waste largely comprised paper cups, brochures, and biscuit and chocolate wrappers with food still inside. “Such mixed waste is difficult to segregate,” says Nagaraj. The waste was later handed over to the Greater Bengaluru Authority.</p>.TCS board approves up to Rs 16k-cr share buyback plan.<p>Similar littering was reported elsewhere. Solid Waste Management (SWM) tenders in Hennur and R R Nagar said they collected large volumes of tricolour streamers, plastic flags, and party poppers from roads, offices, schools and apartment complexes.</p>.<p>Some citizen-led initiatives, however, showed that low-waste celebrations are possible. Dr Shanthi Tummala of the HSR Citizen Forum said a GBA-organised event she attended was zero-waste, with breakfast served to nearly 1,000 people on rented steel cutlery. “We saw similar efforts in apartments and temples across HSR,” she said, adding, “Change is happening, but it’s limited.”</p>
<p>As Republic Day celebrations wound up on Monday, public spaces across Bengaluru were left strewn with waste ranging from paper cups and food wrappers to tricolour-themed printouts and plastic flags. Activists emphasise the need for stronger awareness and enforcement drives to make public celebrations eco-friendly and litter-free. </p>.<p>On Monday morning, volunteers from the Indian Ploggers Army Trust (IPAT) carried out a cleanup drive around Vidhana Soudha. They were joined by volunteers from organisations such as Saahas and Esaf Foundation, and workers from the Public Works Department. “In two hours, we collected nearly 14 sacks of garbage from the road off Vidhana Soudha,” said IPAT founder G Nagaraj. The waste largely comprised paper cups, brochures, and biscuit and chocolate wrappers with food still inside. “Such mixed waste is difficult to segregate,” says Nagaraj. The waste was later handed over to the Greater Bengaluru Authority.</p>.TCS board approves up to Rs 16k-cr share buyback plan.<p>Similar littering was reported elsewhere. Solid Waste Management (SWM) tenders in Hennur and R R Nagar said they collected large volumes of tricolour streamers, plastic flags, and party poppers from roads, offices, schools and apartment complexes.</p>.<p>Some citizen-led initiatives, however, showed that low-waste celebrations are possible. Dr Shanthi Tummala of the HSR Citizen Forum said a GBA-organised event she attended was zero-waste, with breakfast served to nearly 1,000 people on rented steel cutlery. “We saw similar efforts in apartments and temples across HSR,” she said, adding, “Change is happening, but it’s limited.”</p>