Sweeping gesture irritates residents

Sweeping gesture irritates residents

Staff Reporter
Fraser Town denizens kick up dust over garbage disposal drive

— PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.

NOT AMUSED: Fraser Town residents brushed off a cleanliness drive by volunteers on Thursday saying the dustbins were useless as long as the BBMP was apathetic about garbage disposal.
BANGALORE: Armed with enthusiasm and plastic dustbins, a group of earnest students who turned up at Frazer Town to generate civic awareness had to face residents’ ire here on Thursday.

The students, from Jain University, were taken aback when they had to face the local residents’ wrath of residents over the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s lackadaisical garbage collection system. Even the former corporator Pradeep Kumar Reddy, president, Fraser Town Residents Welfare Association, was not spared.

Around 50 students from different colleges of the Jain University, in association with the Frazer Town Residents Welfare Association, took part in the Clean up Fraser Town drive.

The youngsters students went about meeting residents off the Moore Road, distributing plastic dustbins, spreading the message that people should not dump garbage on the road and that ideally, garbage should be segregated at the source.

Fumed Syed Ismail, a local resident: “They are just distributing plastic dustbins. They are not saying anything about the slapdash manner in which garbage is being collected and taken away by the BBMP contractors.” Pointing to a pile of garbage dumped right beside a drain, he said: “This has been lying here for several days. In the absence of any sizeable dustbin for dumping garbage, we are forced to dispose of it near the road or in the drain.”

The residents then turned their ire on former Corporator Reddy, who was accompanying the students. One of them witheringly told him: “All these days you have not bothered to visit our locality. You have come now as the elections are nearing. We have been living here enduring the stench of garbage dumped on the road.”

The locals had a thing or two to say about the plastic bins the students had brought with them. “These dustbins are too small to store garbage, leave alone segregating it,” said Jyothamma scornfully.

Conceding lapses on the part of BBMP contractors, Mr. Reddy said the association would bring this to the notice of the civic officials. Denying that the campaign was related to impending BBMP elections, he said the cleanliness drive had been launched six months ago. The association, so far, has not considered taking part in the BBMP elections, he added.