Team Mangalorean

Bangalore: If you think that only Mangalore has 'stinking' problems pertaining to garbage issues, you are wrong, because Bangalore has much more worse garbage problems than us. And if travellers from Mangalore to Bangalore felt that strong stench this morning when they got down from the bus or reached there by other travel means, and were wondering as to where the strong stench was coming from , guess what?-garbage has piled up, not picked up in the City, since the nearly 16,000 Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) pourakarmikas have struck work, refusing to pick up nearly 3000 tonnes of garbage. The entire ' Garden City' has turned virtually into a dumpyard, since Wednesday, August 8, 2012.

Bangaloreans might have to bear the stench of uncleared garbage for a few more days, as the sanitation workers are on an “indefinite” strike against what they alleged were “personal vendetta” and “harassment” by the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF).Almost all the 4,000 BBMP pourakarmikas and 12,000 contract workers employed by private garbage contractors joined the strike called by the BBMP Employees’ and Officers’ Union on Wednesday. And this has resulted in piling up of uncleared garbage on streets across the City.

Sources in the BBMP say things would worsen from Thursday, as each day the City produces 3,000 tonnes of garbage. “We are helpless. On Wednesday, not a single truck lifted the garbage from the streets on account of the strike,” said one source. The problem is that the Palike solely depends on the pourakarmikas to clear the garbage.

According to Palike officials, the BBMP Employees’ Union is using the pourakarmikas to pressure the State Government to remove BMTF chief R P Sharma. “Our unity is our strength.  The state government cannot celebrate Independence Day without the support of BBMP. Private garbage contractors are supporting us. They have assured us that they will not lift garbage unless our demands are met,” has said the union president.

Meanwhile, the Palike also shut its doors to citizens who approached the Palike for its other services including issue of birth and death certificates, khatha transfers and changes apart from building plan sanctions etc.