The Hindu            29.10.2013

Women councillors join market clean-up act

For six weeks now, K.R. Market here has been getting much needed attention, with students and celebrities participating in the intensive cleaning programmes.

On Monday, it was the turn of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s women councillors, who with some celebrity assistance from actor Malavika Avinash, took on the task of cleaning the market and creating awareness among traders and customers about responsible waste disposal. Even the light drizzle did not deter them as they donned rubber gloves and went about the task at hand with gusto.

Ms. Malavika said, “It is a divine cause and I am not ashamed to pick up a pile of garbage and discard it in a dustbin. One does not feel shame while doing the same thing at home. To restore the lost glory of this historical market, the clean up drive must be taken seriously by vendors. It is not just the responsibility of the BBMP.”

Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana lamented that six weeks of cleaning had not thrown up satisfactory results. Vendors must dispose of waste responsibly, he said, and added that this transition could not happen overnight.