Bengaluru: Fed up with years of civic neglect, traders and residents near JP Nagar Metro station on Kanakapura Road, south Bengaluru, recently rolled up their sleeves to tackle a decade-old blackspot on their own. For over 10 years, the area was a notorious dumping ground, with waste contributed by market vendors, passersby and even some locals.Despite repeated complaints, the civic authorities did not take any sustained action, leaving the community frustrated. The locals, who endured stench and mosquito menace, blamed the blackspot for a slump in their businesses. “The blackspot was just five steps away from my shop, and nobody wanted to shop in the stench. We had written, approached, and complained multiple times in the past 10 years, but there was no consistency in cleaning up and no regular clean-up as well. That’s why we decided to put a stop to this,” Jaffar, owner of Madhina Stores, said.
To tackle the problem, the traders and residents, who pooled in Rs 30,000, constructed a small protective dome and planted flowers to prevent fresh dumping at the blackspot, transforming the neglected stretch into a cleaner and organised space. They spent Rs 26,000 on construction and Rs 4,000 to clean the area of accumulated garbage. The initiative also aimed to improve hygiene as stagnant garbage had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. According to shopkeepers, garbage dumping has reduced since their action.
