Bengaluru's garbage collection comes to a screeching halt!

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Amidst a comforting breeze and continuous drizzle in the city, one cannot fail to notice garbage-laden rickshaws parked everywhere with nauseating garbage overflowing from them.

Due to protests by villagers living near the landfills at Mandur and Bellahalli in the city's outskirts where garbage is dumped, Bengaluru's doorto-door collection of trash has come to a screeching halt in most parts of the city in the past couple of days prompting new black spots to emerge in various areas.

This comes against the backdrop of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's remarks on the government not being able to find a landfill for dumping garbage.

“We are struggling to identify land for landfills. The Mandur landfill issue is stuck in court. We are in talks with NICE (Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise)for a landfill ,” he reportedly said on Wednesday.

Residents, especially in the eastern part of the city, bore the brunt of not being able to dispose of garbage.

“A lot of people have taken to disposing garbage haphazardly wherever they like and new black spots are forming,” said a resident from Ward 103, Whitefield. Residents in the South Zone of the city also did not see their garbage collectors arrive as usual on Thursday.

“We had to put up with the stench for the past couple of days,” said Sanjana, who lives in a PG near Madiwala. Protests have also erupted in Mandur village, which rose to prominence in 2014 for the same reason.

“We’ve been accommodating around 90 per cent of the city’s garbage for the last decade. Have you even considered giving us a drop of Cauvery water?, you keep citing change of governments,” lamented a protester while speaking to reporters.

The dumping of the city’s garbage won’t be allowed until higher officials, Bengaluru MLAs and the Chief Minister come up with a solution, the leader of the protest added. Another resident living at Mitiganahalli, said that their children are bearing the brunt due to the dumping.

“A few days ago, the dumped garbage was being burnt by miscreants,” they claimed.

Situation now under control, rain to blame: Officials

Higher officials from Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) claimed that they have come to a compromise on the situation.

“Garbage collection will be done round-the-clock in select wards, and routine collection will resume from Friday,” said Basavaraj Kabade, Chief Engineer, BSWML.

Harish Kumar D, CEO of BSWML told News Trail that Integrated Solid Waste Management Units, which are part of Shivakumar’s ‘Brand Bengaluru’ initiative, are still being deliberated upon and dismissed media reports of the government identifying four land parcels for setting up mega waste processing parks.