BANGALORE: Garbage contractors appear determined to ruin the city's aesthetics. Under pressure to find space to dump waste, they have begun offloading debris in medians between Namma Metro pillars. What was planned to be a colourful bed of flowers has become home for stinking heaps of garbage all along Reach 1 on the MG Road-Byappanahalli route.

Bangalore produces 5,000 metric tonnes of waste every day. But there are no landfills to dispose this of in a scientific manner. Result: garbage contractors end up dumping waste indiscriminately in vacant sites or on the city outskirts. Sadly, the city's pride that runs along MG Road, CMH Road and Old Madras Road, has to bear the burden of the stench too.

In fact, the problem posed by garbage on Metro medians is not limited to stench and visual outrage. The muck draws stray animals that scavenge waste and litter it all over the place. There is a danger of birds, or even wind for that matter, scattering it on the electrified tracks, bringing Metro operations to a halt.

In December last, operations on Reach 1 came to a halt for 30 minutes after plastic bags filled with waste were found on the tracks on CMH Road. Throwing waste either on the track or on the medians is an offence, senior BMRC officials said.

"On Reach-1, we have completed work on installing a water harvesting system along the medians, and are putting in place the same on Reaches 3 and 4. In fact, we are in the process of setting up flower beds on Reach 1 with assistance from the horticulture department. But miscreants have been dumping debris and garbage along the median, making our work difficult. We have been coordinating with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to tackle this issue and book the culprits. The Palike has promised to seize vehicles and fine the drivers," they said.

Most of this garbage-dumping happens early in the morning or late at night when roads are largely empty."While going on morning walks, we see garbage dumped in the middle of the road and Metro medians. This is just not tolerable," said Gopinath M, resident of Indiranagar.