Bengaluru MLAs 'blackmailing' us, says Deputy CM DK Shivakumar as garbage crisis worsens
Bengaluru, Mar 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday alleged that the city MLAs across political parties are "blackmailing" the government over Bengaluru's garbage crisis.
Referring to them as "blackmailers" in the Legislative Council, he claimed that these MLAs are demanding Rs 800 crore in development funds.
He further alleged there is a "big mafia" controlling the city's solid waste management.
The Deputy CM was replying to MLC M Nagaraju’s question on the garbage issue in the city.
Nagaraju pointed out that many garbage transporting vehicles are stranded on the roads due to lack of waste disposal facilities. He also expressed concerns about waste not being cleared from the city.
“I have seen reports about the garbage problem in the media. There is a big mafia. The garbage contractors have formed a cartel and quoted prices 85 per cent higher than the standard rates. Now, they have approached the court preventing us from taking action,” Shivakumar, who is Bengaluru Development Minister, told the Council.
He further claimed that legal hurdles are delaying government efforts to streamline solid waste management.
Shivakumar revealed that the government had planned to divide the city's garbage disposal work into four packages and transport waste 50 km away, but the initiative has been stalled.
“Our Bengaluru MLAs are blackmailing us. I don’t want to name them. I am telling you the fact. They are from all the parties. They want Rs 800 crore as development funds. I cannot take their names here.”
He told the Council that for the past three days vehicles were stranded in Mahadevapura in the city.
Noting that he wanted to take the garbage at least 50 km away from the city, the Deputy CM appealed to the MLAs to help the BBMP identify 100 acres land in Kolar, Nelamangala, Kanakapura Road, or next to a forest land.
“I (government) will purchase it (land) and get a permanent solution. I asked the Industries Minister for 100 acres land, to which he wondered whether garbage be dumped inside industries?” Shivakumar said.
The Deputy CM said the experiment to generate power has failed.
“I had been to Hyderabad and Chennai. All electric (units) have failed. The only option is gas. There is a chance to generate gas. I had seen it at three to four places,” he opined.
Two locations have been identified for waste disposal – one is with the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Road authorities and another one in Doddaballapura.
According to him, technologies exist to manage waste disposal efficiently without causing inconvenience to anyone or contaminating groundwater through leachate.
Shivakumar pointed out that all the governments have failed to find a humane solution to the garbage issue.
“What was done in the past was not done from the human perspective. Siddaramaiah and even the BJP had made promises but ultimately we have failed. We have to make a respectful arrangement for garbage disposal,” he noted.
He told the House that he would give a detailed reply on the issue on Monday.
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She is gone, the music lives on: Sorrow and song as Asha Bhosle cremated with state honours
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Mumbai (PTI): "Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar..." The strains of that wistful song played in the background at the Shivaji Park crematorium on Monday as hundreds of people gathered inside, and outside, to bid music legend Asha Bhosle a final sayonara.
A gun salute rang out as the last rites of Bhosle, perhaps the last of the singing greats who ruled the soundwaves for decades and still do, were held in accordance with Hindu rituals and with full state honours. Her son Anand performed the rituals.
Bhosle, one half of the legendary Mangeshkar sisters, passed away on Sunday due to multi-organ failure. She was 92 as was her Lata didi when she died in February 2022.
Priests recited mantras around the funeral pyre, decorated with vibrant yellow and orange marigolds.
Granddaughter Zanai was inconsolable. Sister Usha Mangeshkar, also a singer, and brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar, a music composer, were there too.
Among those gathered to pay their last respects to India's singer nonpareil were Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, director Ramesh Sippy and actors Aamir Khan and Vicky Kaushal.
It was a moment of sorrow and song too.
Before the pyre was lit, singers Shaan, Sudesh Bhosle and Anup Jalota paid a musical tribute to the enduring legend who sang some 12,000 songs in an incredible eight-decade career that started when she was just 10.
While Sudesh Bhosle crooned "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana", Shaan sang "Pyaar Ke Mod Pe".
But they were not the only ones.
Many fans, their hands folded in prayer, were heard singing the many numbers that made Bhosle the star that she was for music lovers of all ages and through many generations.
Snatches of "Aaiye Meherbaan", the languid song of love filmed on Madhubala, and "Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Pe", romance of another hue pictured on Zeenat Aman many decades later, and many others, could be heard. Some softly crooned, others louder.
"I've been a huge fan of Asha Tai. She has had songs for every mood and occasion. Our Tai, and her songs, will live forever in our hearts," said one ardent fan.
The irrepressible, exuberance of the versatile Bhosle, who was compelling whether she was singing classical or cabaret, was inspirational, said another.
"Not just her songs, but her being so energetic at this age inspired me. It's all because of her that I'm quite active even now," added another who came with her daughter.
The fanspeak melded with the instrumental versions of many of Bhosle's songs, right from "Inhi Logon Ne" to "In Aankhon Ki Masti" that played out.
It was a day to remember for Mumbai.
People lined the streets, gathered on rooftops and windows, and hundreds walked along the cortege as it made its slow way from Bhosle's home Lower Parel to Shivaji Park to accompany the city's very own Asha Tai on her last journey.
Chants of "Asha Tai amar rahe" went up in the crowds gathered for a last glimpse of the singing star who ruled playlists -- and hearts -- for eight decades.
A giant photograph of Bhosle, radiant in a red sari with her trademark bindi and an ornate nose ring, was placed on the flower-decked bier as the procession made its way through the streets.
Earlier in the day, Bhosle's body, in a glass casket and draped in the tricolour, was kept at her home for mourners to pay their last respects.
Her songs across the decades -- "Aao Huzoor Tumko", "Aaiye Meherban", "Jhumka Gira Re", "Dil Cheez Kya Hai", "O Saathi Re" and "Yai Re Yai Re" -- played softly in the background.
A reminder as it were that the singer may be gone but her songs will live on forever.
Veteran actors Asha Parekh and Helen, Ranveer Singh, Tabu, composer AR Rahman, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and political leaders Uddhav Thackeray, Praful Patel and Supriya Sule were among those who gathered at her residence.
Bhosle was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Maharashtra Bhushan.
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