Will somebody shut the yuck up?

Will somebody shut the yuck up? - said the article published in Bangalore Mirror dt 12.01.2015.

We, teamcijma, at Jayamahal have been constantly working on getting the BBMP to do a proper job of collecting garbage from residents and dispose it without dumping on the ground. But more often the garbage is left behind in a huge pile opposite the playground gate.

Here are the pictures of the last few days ......

Got the Bangalore Mirror to report this in their paper on 12. 03. 15.  

Report in Bangalore Mirror dt 12.03.15

Will somebody shut the yuck up?

Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Mar 12, 2015, 04.00 AM IST

Garbage piles up in the once-beautiful Jayamahal, adding to people’s problems 

By: Kailash Koushik

Increasing filth in Jayamahal aggravated by poor civic responsibility adds to residents' woes

While the Swachh Bharat wave spreads across the country, the residents of Jayamahal have nothing to cheer for. With roads littered and a garbage collection centre turning into a landfill, residents seldom thought that a beautiful and serene Jayamahal would reach such a pathetic state.

The road between Aane Park road and Jayamahal Ladies Club ground has been transformed into a landfill, with the BBMP unable to clear garbage. Residents have been suffering the stink of garbage since a week, with rains adding to the misery. "With the rains, contaminated water entered the park pond and now that is stinking too. This is a beautiful park, which now has lost its beauty because of garbage," says a team member of Citizen Initiatives for Jayamahal (CIJMA), which has taken up the responsibility of cleaning up Jayamahal streets. "There is no accountability. We don't know who is responsible as we have approached everyone for solutions. The problem still remains," adds the member.

The problem has been around since three years -- the collection point where trucks pick up garbage has now become a dumping ground with the vehicles being unable to clear the ever-increasing mounds of filth.

Members of CIJMA feel the problem is twofold. "Segregation has to be taken seriously. We went door-to-door creating awareness about segregation. But when it comes to garbage collection, all wastes are collected together and dumped in one place. While there is a delay in picking up the garbage, the heaps become bigger," explains a senior member.

The garbage is spread across the road and even enters the playground used by Gulabi School, which is adjacent to the park. Children sometimes walk over garbage to come and play, which is unhealthy.

Numerous requests to local bodies have gone unnoticed. Members of CIJMA took up an initiative to clean some streets themselves to show the BBMP that it was possible to bring Jayamahal back to its serene glory. They undertook awareness programmes and involved students of Gulabi School to bring about a general consciousness about garbage management and segregation. "We are constantly doing our bit, but when the quantity of garbage becomes so big, we have neither the resources nor the manpower to handle it," says a concerned member.

Area corporator M K Gunashekar said there was a loading and unloading problem which the civic bodies were aware of. Steps were already being taken towards a solution.

When Mirror contacted Ajith Kumar Hegde, joint commissioner of BBMP (east zone), he said he was unaware of this problem and promised to clear the garbage at the earliest. 

 We contacted the Joint Commissioner, Shri Ajith Kumar Hegde who assured us that he would visit the area & meet us.

As promised the Commissioner came this morning & spent an hour chalking out a programme with the BBMP officials & our team to keep our area clean !

Word had spread about the Joint Commissioner's visit.  Lo & behold, all the garbage had vanished in less than two hours & the road was spick-and-span !  

BBMP has been able to do it for ONE DAY , SURELY ,  CAN BE DONE EVERYDAY  !

REQUEST residents to segregate and hand over garbage to BBMP Paurakarmikas.  

Report in Bangalore Mirror dt 14.03.15

Finally, BBMP shuts the yuck up

By: Kailash Koushik

A day after BM report, the civic body's officials wake up and clear a garbage pile in upscale Jayamahal

Less than 24 hours after Bangalore Mirror reported the piling up of garbage in upscale Jayamahal, BBMP cleared all the garbage by 8 am on Friday.

Bangalore Mirror had on Thursday published a story on the garbage pile-up on the road between the famous Aane Park and Jayamahal Ladies Club ground (Will somebody shut the yuck up?). After The Citizen Initiatives for Jayamahal (CIJMA) came to know through the article that the joint commissioner (east) was unaware of this problem, they contacted him using the article as a reference.

"We have been sending petitions and requests to every commissioner and assistant engineer (AE) since 2005. All we ever receive are false promises and no action. Now we know that the commissioner is not even aware of the problem," exclaimed a senior CIJMA member, who presented copies of all these petitions to the JC.

The joint commissioner (JC), east, Ajith Kumar Hegde, along with superintending engineer Rangaswamy visited the spot, by which time assistant executive engineer (AEE) Jayamahal, Shariff was already present. A truckload of garbage had been sent and two smaller vehicles were ready to move the rest of the trash. In short, by the time top officials arrived, the place was almost cleared of garbage.

The residents narrated all their problems in detail to the joint commissioner, who in turn questioned AE Poojarappa and ward supervisor Manjunath. "The main problem is unloading. We don't know where to take the garbage. Earlier two push carts were used to collect the garbage and unload it into a truck. Of late, the amount of garbage has increased. We cannot transport so much," explained an annoyed Manjunath. Poojarappa blamed the Mandur problem for the situation in Jayamahal.

Hegde gave the AE and the supervisor a week's time to clean the area up. "Last week, we levied a fine of Rs one lakh on a contractor in Shantinagar for not clearing garbage properly. Similar action will have to be taken here if this continues" he added.

The members of CIJMA volunteered to help BBMP not only to train pourakarmikas but also to create awareness about segregation. They proposed to make Jayamahal a model ward, where the BBMP could experiment with different techniques of waste management. Members also requested the JC to send a representative to attend monthly meetings of CIJMA, so that residents could have a direct interaction with a BBMP official. Hegde appointed AEE Shariff on the spot to be the representative.

"This is a problem common to most wards. There is a dearth of funds in general which is constraining us to employ manpower. There is also a delay in payments to the contractors because of which they refuse to work. The Mandur problem adds to these problems," explained the JC, after assuring that trash would not pile up and that he would take a personal interest in keeping the area garbage-free.

"We hope our streets remain clean like this. This should not be a one day clean-up. We are ready to help and work towards a more permanent solution" added a CIJMA member.

 TEAM CIJMA REQUEST THE RESIDENTS NOT HAVE THEIR GARBAGE / GARDEN WASTE DUMPED NEAR THE PLAYGROUND OR ANY WHERE ON THE ROAD.

PLEASE HAND OVER TO BBMP PAURAKARMIKAS.