Bengaluru flyovers turn into dumping ground, pose new danger for commuters

As if choking traffic was not dangerous enough, commuters of the city roads are now facing one more hazard: garbage bags.

Motorists from different areas say flyovers, built spending crores of rupees, have turned into dumping yards. Besides damaging roads, garbage bags also distract two-wheel riders and could cause accidents, if not removed.

Banashankari resident Nagarajan R, who commutes to work on the Dalmia Circle flyover, said an outgrown tree has reached its carriageway, obstructing the riders.

“It has been a month since the tree has grown so much, but no action has been taken,” Nagarajan said. “Since the tree has encroached the corner lane, motorists are forced to take the middle lane used by cars, which could cause accidents.”

He told DH that the area below the tree has become a spot for people to dump garbage.

Similar complaints have come from the Hennur flyover for some time. Volunteers working to rid the place of garbage for the past two years said the problem persists, although it is less severe now.

"It emerged as a severe problem two years ago when people began flinging garbage bags on the flyover, during the pandemic,” Subramanian K, founder of citizen group Hennur Taskers, said, adding that trash-throwing was made easier since the flyover was secluded, poorly lit at night and has less traffic.

Subramanian hoped that traffic would improve as the flyover has been identified as an alternative route since the closure of the Hebbal flyover’s up-ramp towards KR Puram for all traffic, except two-wheelers.

Rakesh Malhotra, another volunteer with Hennur Taskers, said the issue is more to do with the neglect of citizens and could be solved easily with police patrolling.

The unfinished Ejipura flyover is another place that has rapidly turned into a garbage black spot. While the 2.5-kilometre, four-lane flyover was expected to significantly relieve motorists from the bottlenecks, it has emerged as a place to dump garbage. "Although the dumping does not hamper the traffic directly, it stinks terribly and has become an eyesore," Malhotra added.

Mechanical sweepers

BS Prahlad, Chief Engineer for Infrastructure, BBMP, said most flyovers are maintained using mechanical sweepers.

"They do not have walking lanes and so, we could not depute pourakarmikas to clean it. We, therefore, use mechanical sweepers. A hundred sweeping machines have been deployed, but, at the moment, we are using 25, whenever there is a requirement,” he said.

Prahlad urged people to stop throwing garbage on the flyovers. “They usually throw (the garbage) at night, and most are from shops in the vicinity,” he told DH.