Date:16/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/16/stories/2008051661070300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Dogs keep residents awake at night

M. Raghuram

Stray dogs feed on food waste dumped in vacant sites

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

HEALTH HAZARD: Shamanna Garden in Bangalore where a few cases of gastroenteritis were reported.

BANGALORE: The city planners who once had a dream of emulating Singapore are now in a bind. Vacant spaces in Bangalore are gradually turning into garbage dump yards and along with it has come the menace of stray dogs.

The problem is all the more in upmarket areas where vacant sites are progressively becoming dump yards. Those living in the adjacent plots are facing the heat with mounds of garbage giving them sleepless nights.

Speculators have left a large number of sites vacant in the city in anticipation of rise in price; these prime lands have garbage strewn around and stray dogs rummage the squalor.

With Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike unable to cope with the problem, the garden city is gradually changing for the worse.

Litter cops

Sources in the BBMP say there are at least 3,000 sites in the old BMP area and according to an estimation, there are about 700 sites where people dump garbage. The sources said the BBMP was now planning to collect a fee from the owners of vacant sites whose plots were being used as dump yards.

The BBMP will impose a fine on those who are habitual violators. “The concept of litter cops is being developed by BBMP and soon after the new government takes over, these plans will be implemented.”

The Nirmala Nagara Yojana has been working well in several areas of the city, but it does not seem to have percolated into a few areas in southern Bangalore, which was the prime reason behind open dumping of garbage say BBMP officials.

The piling up of garbage has attracting stray dogs. A classic example is a location at N.S. Palya on Bannerghatta Road where a vacant site has been converted into a dump yard. According to residents of the nearby apartment, about a dozen stray dogs fight for food on this ground disturbing the residents. They have complained to the BBMP dog squad on one or two occasions but in vain. They point out that the BBMP truck promptly picks up the garbage every morning, but by night garbage piles up.

Similar is situation at BTM Layout, Hampinagar (Vijayanagar) and J.P. Nagar.

The BBMP sources say there were 1.76 lakh stray dogs in the city and about 1.45 lakh pet dogs. The BBMP is planning to introduce stringent dog licence norms in the city.

The owners of the licensed dogs will be given instructions not to allow their pets to litter, but go for controlled re-generation.