Garbage carts

Just opposite my house, located at Jayanagar 9th block, East End B Main, four to five garbage collection carts are parked. Families residing in ‘B’ and ‘C’ Main dump the garbage in these bins. Ragpickers empty the bins strewing the garbage all over on the road to pick up what they want. The street dogs too mess up the garbage. During rains, the whole area stinks. We, senior citizens, are finding it difficult to live under the circumstances. I request authorities especially, those of the Health Department and the BBMP, to visit the place and look into the matter.


C V N Rao,
Jayanagar

Waste management

There are open waste dumps behind all major government hospitals which have become a source of infection for patients and staff. The heaps of garbage, which pile up here, are also easy targets for rag pickers who pick them up with bare hands, making themselves vulnerable to a number of infections, including HIV.

Contaminated waste including, used needles and other equipment, find their way to recycling stores in smaller metros where they are repacked and then make their appearance at the chemists’ shelves. Though rules specifying the segregation, packaging, transportation and storage of waste were framed as early as 1998, most hospitals are not even aware that they exist. They are supposed to be autoclaved and transported to specially earmarked sites where they can be safely disposed of.

The primary reason why this unhealthy state of affairs has been ignored is the complete lack of coordination between the departments concerned. Since officials seem unwilling to take on the responsibility, the task should be assigned to an independent monitoring body which could be assisted by appropriate NGOs.

K Harikrishnan,
HSR  Layout