The Hindu

• Burning of waste prevails in all the wards
• Councillor promises to take up the issue seriously

Mangalore, Oct 31: Deepak Kumar (23) has started wearing a pollution mask during his early-morning jogging, thanks to the plumes of smoke that greet him the moment he steps out of his house. The ‘pourakarmikas’, engaged in clearing the garbage near his house, have found a convenient way of completing their task - setting the waste afire on the spot.

Mr. Kumar says that despite several requests and criticism by the residents of the area, the pourakarmikas continue to burn the rubbish. “When we ask them to stop burning the garbage, they tell us that they are not answerable to us.”

A random survey on Thursday revealed that the problem was not unique to Mr. Kumar’s neighbourhood. Small bonfires dot the roadsides in Jeppu, Mangaladevi, Kankanady, Valencia, Attavara, Jeppinamogaru, Pandeshwara, Pumpwell and Balmatta.

Chairman of the standing committee for health, social justice and education of the Mangalore City Corporation Premananda Shetty said that the corporation was aware of the problem.

“People in more than 20 wards in the city are facing it,” he said.

He said that all the wards were being managed by the pourakrmikas directly employed by the MCC. “Contract workers are more obedient. But it is close to impossible to control the regular officials and workers,” he said.

The department had been receiving several complaints on this issue from residents and very little had been done by the MCC to curb such activities. “We will take up this issue seriously in the coming days,” he said.