Rampant garbage dumping agony of Padmanabhanagar residents

Vasudha Zora NT

Bengaluru: Padmanabhanagar is one of the posh localities of South Bangalore, surrounded by Uttarhalli, Kumarswamy layout, Chikkansandra and Kadirenahlli cross. The area has a growing population of 47,182. The area comes under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s ward number 182 and comes under the parliamentary constituency of South Bangalore.

The locality is also famous for the Lakshmikanta park which houses medicinal trees. The total road length of the area is 985 kms with Gowdanapalya and Chikkalasandra lakes surrounding the area, with close to 14 parks, spread out across 3.9 sq. km and 9 playgrounds accounting for 3.5 sq. km area.

In a large area like Padmanabhanagar with many educational institutions, including medical colleges and hospitals, the recent civic maintenance and repair work by the authorities has raised severe traffic concerns. According to the traffic authorities, most of this traffic is diverted from Uttarahalli and Kadirenahalli cross.

”There is a large garbage dump near Muniappa layout which is not covered; this has led to several diseases spreading in the area, including dengue. It has become a big concern for residents as many are prone to dengue and other infectious illnesses,” Neena Kumar, a resident of 2nd main road said. She added that the woes continue for residents as authorities have not been carrying out regular garbage collection in the area.”

Garbage dumped is not segregated by the authorities, nor the people residing in the area; this is perhaps the reason for this accumulation. The dumping ground where the BBMP parks its garbage collection trolleys is truly a hell on earth and we live with it,” Santosh, another resident and Neena’s neighbour added.

Being an old area, the locality has many old residential buildings, some of which have been abandoned and have become blind spots for illegal dumping. It has also emerged as a hideout for beggars and drug abusers, many residents are fed up with this nuisance and are suffering silently as the authorities are never quick to respond.

The barrier in communication between the BBMP and the residents, has led to many civic imbalances in the area such as the open sewage pipelines not having a connection to the main line, narrow roads full of potholes, many dumping sites which have been constantly overlooked and lack of sign boards has caused many residents to live in horrible conditions.  

“The number of unvaccinated and neutered dogs run wild on the streets, people are afraid to walk at night, the BBMP should really start the vaccination drive as many people catching the 15 A bus from the bus stop are under threat,” Shomshekar, another resident of the area said. The locality is famous for some delicious street foods with a wide variety of vegetarian dishes to choose from.

However this abundance of food stalls has given rise to encroachment by vendors who are ignorant of the dumping measures. This practice has not only opened doors for diseases The lack of basic amenities like streetlights, especially for pedestrians is a cause of major concern to the residents. With broken footpaths, children going to school have suffered many injuries.

Illegal construction and encroachment are two major problems the residents deal with on a daily basis. The maintenance work in the area began shortly as the New Year began, with elections due in a months, the civic revamping has have raised several questions about the lack of adequate safety procedures with respect to the public.

“The residential areas are usually safe; there are criminal activities and drug abuse in dilapidated or abandoned buildings. Chain snatching in markets is common in the area,” law enforcement authorities informed. The BBMP authorities at the Bangalore One office refused to comment on the dire conditions of the area and refused to provide News trail the contact to the garbage collection unit.