Residents stop garbage lorries parking in BTM

When all efforts failed, BTM residents filed a PIL against garbage trucks parked their area causing sanitation issues. The court ordered the BBMP to act, and set a deadline of two months.

Residents of Dollar Scheme layout in BTM 1st stage in south Bengaluru, one of whom is a BBMP employee, have won a major case against parking nusiance in the area. BBMP’s garbage contractors were parking vehicles along the roads in their layout. Eleven residents of 32nd and 33rd main in the layout had filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the High Court in June 2010, asking BBMP and the police department to prevent trucks from being parked in the area.

In early January, the court ordered the BBMP to take action within two months to solve the issue. A brief report on the ruling was originally published in The Hindu on 6 January. 

Garbage trucks as seen from the house of R Krishnamurthy, one of the petitioners in the case. Pic: Navya P K

Around 150 trucks and 200 autos collecting garbage were being parked here for several years, causing stench and sanitation issues. Some vehicles were parked in the site owned by garbage contractor Gopinath Reddy along 32nd main, and others were parked in the streets. While other streets in this BDA-approved layout were all asphalted and well-maintained, 32nd main road was not asphalted.

36-year-old Imtiaz Ahmed, a Vijayanagar resident who had bought a plot in the area in 2006, says that residents had made representations to various authorities to get the garbage vehicles removed and to asphalt the road. "At 3 am the vehicles would leave, collect the garbage and come back at around 3 pm. After 10 at night, all vehicles – many of them with garbage – will be here and the entire area would be blocked. There was no clear answer from BBMP or BDA officials as to why vehicles could not be cleared," he says.

Ahmed who runs his electronic and furniture business in Kamakshipalya, consulted the residents and persuaded them to sign petitions addressed to various authorities. Around 20 houses in the area were affected. Representations were made to BBMP, BDA, Pollution Control Board, and the local MLA about the issue, but to no avail.

Employee takes on BBMP

One of citizens who sued BBMP is a BBMP employee, who joined cause with other petitioners after her own efforts to push the local authority went in vain.

Even BBMP officials residing in the layout could not do much. Lakshmi Devi, 49, one of the petitioners, is a First Division Assistant at BBMP’s Revenue department. "I had given complaints to BBMP’s Health department many times, but there was no response. We were also concerned about security as the workers would stay back," she says. Another resident Shakeela says that the problem has persisted for the last 20 years.

Ahmed says that the contractors had given many assurances that the vehicles would be removed. "Reddy said that he owned another plot of 30,000 sq ft area near the Burial Ground in Hosur road and that the vehicles would be moved there soon, but it never happened," he says.

The residents’ lawyer, Advocate Hiremath says, "According to the KMC Act, it is the responsibility of BBMP to provide civic amenities and look into complaints from the public. These vehicles cannot be parked in a residential area."

Responding to the petition, BBMP said that it had issued two notices to the contractors in November to remove the vehicles from the area. The Court disposed the case on January 5, giving BBMP two months to take further action. Recently the 32nd main road was asphalted and now fewer vehicles park here. Residents hope that all vehicles would be removed from the area itself.

"BBMP has assured the court that this would be done. We are happy that the judgement came fast, but we have to see how it will be implemented," says Ahmed.

Comments:

  1. Moti Chand Das says:

    Moti Chand Das

    Sorry,there is no indication Board of 7th Main BTM and Stg on 100 ft Ring Road in between Water Tank(9th Main)& IOL Petrol Pump(6th Main).The Auto always creating problems to new pasangers to/through 7th Main to N S Palya. Immediate measures plz

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

City Buzz: Delhi’s AQI still ‘very poor’ | Hyderabad ‘fastest-growing’ city … and more

Other news: Solar portal launched in Delhi, solutions for flooding proposed in Chennai and tilting 5-storey building in Hyderabad demolished.

Delhi's AQI still 'very poor' After a brief period of relief, air pollution in Delhi surged again on November 22, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The capital recorded the highest Air Quality Index (AQI) in the country at 393, placing it in the 'very poor' category. Hajipur in Bihar followed closely with an AQI of 389. By the evening of the same day, Delhi's AQI deteriorated further to 'severe', reaching 401. The Decision Support System (DSS) of IITM Pune said that vehicle emissions are responsible for 15.16% of the pollution in Delhi, even as smoke from industrial…

Similar Story

Chennai Councillor Talk: Rathika aims to resolve long-standing patta issues in Ward 174

Flooding and sewage overflow are major problems in Chennai's Ward 174. Here is how Councillor Rathika is addressing them.

Like many first-time councillors in Chennai, Ward 174 Councillor M Rathika entered grassroots politics because of the reservation for women in urban local body elections. Ward 174 was one of the wards reserved for women (general) in the 2022 local body polls. Coming from a family with a political background, she had been working on the ground with her brother for years. When the elections were announced, she was given a seat to contest and won by around 5,000 votes. Ward 174 Name of Councillor: M Rathika Party: DMK Age: 44 Educational Qualification: Undergraduate Contact: 9445467174 / 9566165526 Ward 174…