The residents of 2nd Cross, HAL 2nd Stage in New Thippasandra had a
pleasant surprise on Monday morning after an army of Bruhat Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials and workers virtually trooped into
the area, executing a ‘mine-sweeping’ mission, clearing the garbage
mess.

Acting swiftly following a City Express report (Garbage
Carnage, December 9) which highlighted a freak accident due to a garbage
pile that was set on fire resulting in partially damaging a house, the
BBMP officials cleaned up the whole mess in a span of just one hour.

Later,
C V Raman Nagar MLA S Raghu accompanied by BBMP Mayor B S
Sathyanarayana and local corporator Sumithra did a spot inspection and
promised a solution to the garbage mess in 15 days. The trio went around
the area and interacted with residents who welcomed them with a
plethora of problems.

Speaking to City Express, Raghu said that
the incident was shocking and not brought to his notice by the residents
or any officials. “We cannot allow such incidents to happen. It is very
unfortunate that despite our best efforts, the residents are throwing
garbage at open places. The garbage collectors make house-to-house
visits in this locality everyday and without the cooperation of the
residents, we can’t put an end to this menace. However, I have asked the
BBMP officials to put an action plan for this area so that similar
incidents don’t crop up. We have planned to make a triangular garden at
the spot where garbage is being dumped – with a few trees and a lawn
that the residents can care for. It could even be fenced off. We have
already begun the discussions,” Raghu said. When one of the residents
complained to the MLA that corporator Sumithra is seldom available to
address the grievances, Raghu played it safe and assured her
availability. The residents also complained about the increasing number
of stray dogs in the area, in addition to the blocked drainage system.

The
officials also interacted with some of the tenants residing in the
house that caught fire. The Mayor on his part said that he would put up
boards declaring the area as no-garbage dumping zone. “It is impossible
to have a round-the-clock vigil, but we will definitely keep an eye in
this area. It is dangerous to dump and burn garbage here, with a
transformer in the vicinity,” Sathyanarayana said. Interestingly, the
Mayor had a Facebook update on Monday terming the City Express article
as “an eye-opener for the day.” The same update on FB also thanked the
MLA and the corporator, in addition to explaining the plans for the
controversial spot.

However, the tenant who bore the brunt of the
incident, stuck to his decision to move out of the house. “The danger is
still very real. There’s too little distance between the house walls
and the transformer. What if there’s a short circuit tomorrow? What
would help is education of the workers who are involved at the grassroot
levels about proper disposal of garbage. Otherwise, the same thing
could soon repeat in another area, another lane,” Koushik Choudhary
said.