With doctors raising serious health concerns in the wake of the ongoing garbage crisis in the city, a sense of fear and panic has gripped citizens.
Doctors, who said if the ongoing garbage clearance and disposal crisis is not resolved at the earliest, the city could soon turn into an epidemic zone, are directly attributing the rise in the incidence of dengue, a vector-borne disease, to the garbage crisis.
Breeding spots
Waste containers, disposable cups and coconut shells dumped in the garbage mounds have become breeding spots for mosquitoes as they harbour rainwater.
Blaming the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for the mess, V. Satyamurthy, president of Sanjaynagar Residents’ Welfare Association, accused the palike of playing with people’s health.
“We have become helpless. The two parks in our area have become dumping grounds for garbage. Our councillors have become inaccessible and we don’t know whom to contact,” he said.
Worried about the mosquito menace in the area, he said: “So many people are falling sick and even if someone dies of dengue, all that the palike does is to first deny it and then give some compensation. The situation has become horrible and we are worried.”
Stench, mosquitoes
A.V. Shama Rao, president of Ramamurthynagar Residents’ Welfare Association, said that senior citizens in his area were scared of even going for a walk.
“The stench is horrible and mosquitoes are a big problem. We are worried epidemics will spread rapidly now,” he said.
M. Pari, former councillor of Bharatinagar, from where increasing cases of water contamination and resultant gastroenteritis are reported year after year, said that there was the likelihood of the problem worsening.
“It has been raining and filth from the garbage mounds is seeping into the groundwater.
“With most of the waterlines in our area being old, we are worried this filth will seep into the pipelines. We are telling people to drink boiled water,” he added.
