No breathing easy here

July 07, 2014 12:42 am | Updated November 16, 2021 07:19 pm IST - Bangalore

Garbage piles are dotting many lanes of Jayanagar 3rd and 4th blocks, leading to stench and mosquito menace, as in this dumping yard near NMKRV College in Bangalore. — Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Garbage piles are dotting many lanes of Jayanagar 3rd and 4th blocks, leading to stench and mosquito menace, as in this dumping yard near NMKRV College in Bangalore. — Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Sushila Srinivas teaches yoga and breathing exercises at her home in Jayanagar 3rd Block. The trouble is that every deep breath the students take makes them grimace, thanks to the stench from the growing pile of garbage in a residential plot beside their house.

An empty plot at the street corner is filled with construction debris and over time, it has become the favourite garbage dumping place of not only households, but also commercial establishments.

“Since there was already debris there, which was not cleared, people started piling garbage on to it. Now it has become a practice to throw everything here,” said Mrs. Sushila. Her husband Srinivas Babu, said that many passersby have even started using the place as a urinal as the spot is filled with garbage.

The problem of Ms. Sushila’s household is not a one-off case. Similar garbage piles can be seen dotting many lanes of Jayanagar 3rd and 4th blocks, leading to stench and even mosquito menace.

Residents point out that while this is not a major problem in Jayanagar 6th Block onwards, garbage dumping at street corners is a major issue in most parts of the area. They blame the unbridled growth of commercial establishments and eateries in these areas as a major reason for this.

Suman Prasad, a resident says that many of the commercial establishments, including a few hotels, dump their waste into these residential roads near 3rd and 4th block, making a big mess in front of their homes.

“A cement bin which was used earlier to dump waste on the road was removed after the process of segregation and daily collection of waste started. But now with no bin, everyone is dumping waste on the roads. The segregated waste is not even collected regularly from our homes,” she said.

On Sunday, a group of people were seen around Jayanagar 4th block as early as 7 a.m., ready to take matters into their own hands and clean up the garbage-laden streets. They belonged to the citizen-led initiative, ‘The Ugly Indian’, who regularly carry out clean-ups across the city.

“We usually receive a request from residents along with a photo of the neighbourhood. We have carried out clean-up drives in other parts of Jayanagar earlier, ,” said one of the TUI members, a resident of Jayanagar 9th block.

Meanwhile, MLA B. N. Vijayakumar, said that certain black spots had been identified across Jayanagar and that instructions had been given to clear them.

“Initially 49 blackspots had been identified which was later reduced to 27 and is now even lesser. We will inspect the area further.

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