Jayanagar Shopping Complex turns garbage dump

Shopping complex turning into a dump
The Hindu


BANGALORE, OCT. 27. The residents of the oldest planned extension in southern Bangalore have a serious complaint: the surroundings of the Jayanagar Shopping Complex are fast becoming a dump.

According to B.L.G. Rao, Coordinator of FORCE (First Block Organisation of Residents for Clean Environment), the problem became after the introduction of door-to-door collection of waste. "They have done away with dustbins except for one or two large bins in the market which are cleared late in the day," he said.

The shopping complex and its surrounding streets have close to 100 stalls — including makeshift ones — selling vegetables, fruits, coconuts, and other items, including framed portraits of the Hindu deities. The corridors of the complex, the lanes around it, and the walkways are full of discarded banana leaves and other waste, the shoppers complain.

"We have represented several times to the Health Department of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) with no positive response or action," says Mr. Rao. The FORCE activists are not content with complaining; they have come out with the idea of a pilot project, which can be implemented to keep all market places clean.

To start with, BMP should post one "competent and sincere" Junior Health Officer to the area to carry out a cleanliness drive with powers to periodically inspect the entire area. There should be six full-time pourakarmikas for cleaning the area, especially the vegetable, fruit and flower stalls.

The shopkeepers should be told to keep a waste bin within their premises; be spot fines should be levied on any shopkeeper or vendor who throws waste on to the street or passages.

The public should be warned against littering and fined if they break the rule. The Junior Health Officer should be empowered to levy spot fines.

Since most market places lack any order and demarcation between stall areas and common space, stall space should be marked and all stocks for sale kept within that space, FORCE has suggested. Any "spill over" should be strictly dealt with.

The residents would like the clean-up drive to start with the BMP and the Government itself. The upper floors of the shopping complex house the Transport Department offices and local offices of the BMP and the staircase and corridors require cleaning on a large-scale.