Fine empty site owners for not clearing garbage: Bengaluru North Corporation chief

BENGALURU: Bengaluru North City Corporation Commissioner Pommala Sunil Kumar directed ward-level engineers to penalise owners of vacant sites that have become garbage blackspots. Clear garbage from vacant sites, and impose fines on property owners or recover the cleaning costs through property tax of these plots, Kumar suggested. Inspecting Pulakeshinagar, Byatarayanapura and Sarvagnanagar Assembly constituencies, Kumar found many vacant plots that have not been maintained because of legal issues or untraceable owners. He instructed officials to clean such sites immediately and add cleaning expenses to the property tax. He instructed officials to immediately organise a cleanliness drive to remove garbage and construction debris. Senior citizens along the border areas of Sarvagnanagar, Byatarayanapura and Pulakeshinagar divisions had raised complaints about poor sanitation. Kumar resolved inter-division boundary issues on the spot and ordered immediate sanitation measures. Door-to-door waste collection He reiterated that door-to-door waste collection must be conducted promptly and on schedule. Meanwhile, officials of the Bengaluru East City Corporation launched a special drive against blackspots, cleaned drains, and removed discarded household items like sofas, toilet commodes, chairs, and others on Monday. Hundreds of pourakarmikas and engineers were deployed for the cleanliness drive. Over 60 tonnes of silt was cleared in KR Puram and Mahadevapura. Additional Commissioner Lokhande Snehal Sudhakar directed officials to catch litter bugs and impose hefty fines on them. The officials also cleared a 5.3 km stretch from Vaddarapalya Circle to Hennur-Bagalur Road and checked whether water gets stagnated in the drain. Inspecting the white-topping work on Hennur-Bagalur Road, Snehal Sudhakar instructed Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (BSMILE) officials to improve the drainage system by ensuring proper road gradients during the white-topping process so that water does not accumulate on the road surface. As part of the drive, hanging cables and flex banners were removed, potholes filled and shoulder drains cleaned. Staff from the departments of road and infrastructure, engineering, solid waste management, electrical, health, and sanitation under the Mahadevapura and KR Puram zones of the East City Corporation participated in the drive. In all, 20 tractors, six auto tippers, two ladder jeeps, and over 180 pourakarmikas were engaged in the cleanliness work.