If you thought that the garbage pile in your neighbourhood has become an unbearable eyesore, not to mention the awful stench, take a walk down the various markets in the city.
In K.R. Market, one of the most crowded marketplaces in the city, there are rotting mounds of garbage every few yards. The entire area is a slushy cesspool, and things have gotten worse after it rained two days ago, shopkeepers say.
A bus driver said that the pourakarmikas do their job in the morning, but it gets dirty by noon. “As there is no basic infrastructure, the entire place turns into a cesspool,” he said. He said, “Shanthinagar bus stand is well maintained. Garbage bins there are regularly cleared.”
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Shopkeepers at K.R. Market said that garbage — both dry and wet waste — is simply dumped anywhere, and at a patch of land adjacent to the market.
A commuter, who uses the K.R. Market bus stop as a transit point, said that the stench was so unbearable he has stopped boarding from here unless it is an emergency.
“There is filth everywhere. I now take an autorickshaw to the nearest bus stand,” he said, and blamed the officials for the situation.
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The situation was a bit better at Russell Market, where pourakarmikas were seen cleaning up the mess, though one of the traders grumbled that waste is not collected regularly and on time. He said that he paid Rs. 50 a week to get the garbage cleared from his precincts.