Greater Bengaluru Authority launches garbage dumping festival
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Bengaluru (PTI): The Greater Bengaluru Authority on Thursday launched the 'Garbage Dumping Festival' in which the civic workers deliberately dumped garbage in front of 218 households and collected Rs 2.8 lakh fine.
The civic authorities decided to teach a lesson to those families, which are indulged in dumping waste in public and not giving it to the garbage collectors.
"Through an innovative awareness initiative titled ‘Garbage Dumping Festival’, waste was deliberately dumped in front of 218 households, and fines amounting to Rs 2.8 lakh were collected," Kare Gowda, Chief Executive Officer of Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML), said in a statement.
Although waste is collected from every household across all five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority by auto-tippers every morning, some residents continue to dump garbage on roadsides, footpaths, and vacant sites, he said.
"To curb this behavior and maintain urban cleanliness, BSWML has launched this unique awareness campaign, wherein waste is dumped in front of houses of those found littering public spaces, to help residents realise the inconvenience caused when waste is discarded irresponsibly," Gowda said.
He noted that some people avoid handing over garbage to auto-tippers and instead dump it late at night on roads or empty plots. To sensitise such individuals, waste was intentionally placed in front of their houses.
"Accordingly, in front of 218 such households, waste was dumped today and the fine was collected. The waste was later cleared. Citizens are urged to cooperate in keeping Bengaluru clean and hygienic by segregating wet and dry waste and handing it over to auto-tippers during collection," the CEO of BSWML said.
He also asked people to give segregated waste to the auto-tippers at designated collection times.
Gowda said 65 waste kiosks are planned to be installed across Bengaluru to curb roadside garbage dumping.
These kiosks will contribute significantly to building a ‘Swacch Bengaluru’, he said, adding one such kiosk has already been inaugurated in the BTM Layout and has received positive public response.
The CEO was optimistic that the waste kiosk system will help eliminate black spots, control foul odors, and address related issues.
Each kiosk will have four collection bins with a capacity of 100 liters each. People can drop off their segregated waste at these kiosks free of charge during designated hours, he explained.
He also asked residents to send a message with a photograph of the issue to register a complaint via WhatsApp at 94481 97197.
The officials will take action within a stipulated time to ensure proper waste clearance and resolution, Gowda said.
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
