Greater Bengaluru urban development minister Krishna Byre Gowda conducted surprise inspections across eastern Bengaluru on Saturday and directed civic officials to improve household waste collection, road and footpath maintenance, stormwater drains, lake protection and other basic infrastructure services.
The minister visited Horamavu, Banjara Layout, Agara Lake, Jayanagar, Ramamurthy Nagar and Kasturi Nagar within the eastern civic division, according to Vijay Karnataka. During the visits, he reviewed local conditions and sought information on door-to-door waste collection, the functioning of pourakarmikas and marshals, ongoing infrastructure works and complaints affecting residents.
Byre Gowda instructed officials to ensure that waste is collected from every household at the scheduled time each day. He also directed supervising officers to monitor collection and disposal operations continuously and said negligence in the system should not be allowed.
During the inspection, several civic workers reportedly urged the minister to consider making their employment permanent. In response, Byre Gowda questioned the demand and alleged that around 30% of civic workers were not reporting for their daily duties. He said inadequate household collection was contributing to situations in which residents dumped waste on roads, resulting in foul-smelling areas across the city.
The minister also instructed officials to prioritise the removal of garbage dumped in public spaces, footpath encroachments, construction waste and potholes. He called for coordination between the relevant departments so that these problems could be addressed quickly without causing inconvenience to the public.
Officials were further directed to prioritise public safety on roads and footpaths. The minister said measures should be taken to prevent obstructions to pedestrian and vehicular movement and to reduce risks arising from poor maintenance. The inspection formed part of a wider review of civic services and infrastructure in Bengaluru’s eastern areas.
