Extra 15 tons of garbage collected post Dasara celebrations!

Mangaluru: Day by day, there is a steady increase in the garbage being produced by the city which is transforming into a Smart City. On Saturday, the day after the celebration of Vijayadashami festival, extra 15 tons of garbage was collected, while in a week’s period, 2,383 tonnes of garbage was collected.

Normally, 325 to 330 tonnes of garbage is collected in the city daily. But on the day of Vijayadashami celebrations, more garbage and plastic waste is generated at homes and on the road sides. Hence, on Saturday, and extra 15 tonnes of garbage was collected taking the total garbage collected to 345 tonnes.

Garbage disposal started

“Since it was a festive day, 15 tonnes of extra garbage was accumulated along with the normal amounts of garbage. Garbage disposal work started from Saturday morning,” said Bhaskar K, Mayor.

2-3 additional trips

A driver of a garbage disposal vehicle spoke with ‘Udayavani’ and said that there are approximately 83 functional solid waste disposal vehicles in the city. Also there are 823 workers. Daily 4-5 trips are done to collect garbage from the various wards. In the backdrop of the festive seasons, the amount of garbage accumulated has increased. Hence, with respect to the usual, 2-3 additional trips are being carried,” he explained.

Along with hotels and houses, there are approximately 97.294 properties. There is totally 1,180 kms of road. On Saturday, garbage was found accumulated beside most of the roads. In fact, the garbage accumulated beside the road along the Dasara procession route through Ladyhill, Lalbhag, PVS, Navabharat Circle, K S Road and other places reeked of stench. On Saturday, additional workers were appointed for the disposal of garbage and the work on the disposal which started from morning 6:30 am lasted well into the evening.

Plastic garbage dominant

Of the accumulated garbage, plastic garbage was dominant. In fact, the garbage was mostly made of plastic bottles, ice cream cups and banned plastic. On Friday, during the Dasara procession, people who consumed lime soda and other juices disposed off the plastic bottles, glasses on the road itself. Besides earlier, ‘charmuri’ used to be given wrapped in paper, but now has been replaced by plastic cups. Many of these cups too were found disposed on the road along the route of the procession.

No dustbins!

“On the occasion of the Dasara procession, there were no dustbins placed in front of the shops and along the roadsides in the city. Due to this reason, most of the people were forced to dispose the garbage on to the road itself,” said Suraj, Mangaluru

Articel by Naveen Bhat Ilanthil translated into English by Aaron Dmello