Plan @ Earth, an NGO, has come to the aid of Paravur residents by launching an extensive project to reduce and recycle the plastic waste. Organised by the Health Department of Paravur Municpality, the project was launched by Paravur municipal chairperson Valsala Prasannakumar.

Since November 24 Plan @ Earth has been taking awareness classes among the residents of Paravur Municipality in every wards. The first set of plastic waste collected was sent for recycling on Tuesday for the residents Green Land Resident Association of Ward 8.

The waste thus collected would be sorted graded and sent for recycling to ITC Ltd in Coimbatore.

Once the awareness classes are over, the collection would start and would continue on a regular basis. The residents are paid at the rate of `1 per kilo for the clean plastic waste collected. Along with this, the office bearers of Plan @ Earth also plans train the residents on how to make their own shopping bags out of old clothes so that the usage of plastic carry bags comes down.

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.