The battle of civic responsibilities and duties

BANGALORE: Tons of garbage is generated everyday across the city.Most of it is collected and disposed by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahangara Palike (BBMP), but in some places in the city it is disposed along the corners of the roads and left to rot.As a result it ultimately becomes food for stray dogs, scavengers and cows and also a breeding ground for rodents.One such place is the Anna Swamy Mudaliar Road. Household wastes and other such items are recklessly dumped along the road.The storm water drain (SWD) that runs between the road and the grounds is also in a pathetic condition.Plastic and the wastes that have been dumped in the drain block the drain leading to foul odour.Also the residual dirty water that trickles from the drain ultimately pours into Ulsoor Lake.As a result, polluting the lake as well. The entire length of Anna Swami Mudaliar Road is littered with garbage.If garbage along the corners of the road was not bad enough, the waste seems to have found its way on to the pavements as well.The space that remains is taken up by the reinforced concrete pipes. Irfan, an employee of a BPO said, “The place is extremely filthy.It’s not just the garbage disposal that is the problem, public urination is also a cause of worry.The unfortunate part is that, while the civic bodies are attempting to clear the area and do their job, people do not seem to care enough.Littering seems to have become their birth right.” While the BBMP collects the garbage on a daily basis, the situation still does not improve.One of the main reason for this is the lack of dustbins in the area.If the Palike provides a proper dustbin in the area, the waste would not be scattered across.The Palike’s aggressive pursuit to educate Bangaloreans about waste segregation seems to have taken a backseat.While the matter of thoughtless dumping is serious, what is worse is that animals feed on this litter.Most of the content of the waste is plastic, which is harmful for the animals.Swetha, a student remarked, “I regularly walk on this road.One can always find garbage dumped here, and cows and dogs grazing on it.”