• Srirampura Town Panchayat officers re-collect sacks of waste and unload them back in front of sportswear shop in Kuvempunagar; Owner fined Rs. 5,000
• Shop owner blames MCC for the mess; seeks service fee based on quantity of waste generated

Mysuru: Next time you dump waste on the Outer Ring Road (ORR), especially at Srirampura, it may come back to haunt you.

In swift action, Srirampura Town Panchayat officials collected waste allegedly dumped by a sportswear shop in Kuvempunagar, beside the service road along the ORR and unloaded it in front of the same shop.

A penalty of Rs. 5,000 was collected from the errant shopkeeper before the waste was disposed of.

Sunrise Sportswear on New Kantharaj Urs Road in Kuvempunagar had allegedly dumped several sacks of garment waste, weighing around 400-kg, beside the service road near B.R. Ambedkar Circle at the Srirampura ORR junction. The spot is located close to the Srirampura Town Panchayat office.

The Health Inspector and staff of Srirampura Town Panchayat, who noticed the waste, traced its source with the help of vouchers found among the discarded material. They loaded the waste onto a tractor and dumped it in front of the same shop as a warning to the errant shopkeeper.

Srirampura Town Panchayat Chief Municipal Officer A.M. Sridhar told media persons that the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has a door-to-door waste collection system. However, some people continue to dump waste on the outskirts of the city.

To curb such unhealthy practices, particularly at night, Town Panchayat staff have been deputed to conduct regular rounds and monitor garbage-vulnerable points, he said.

Meanwhile, shop owner Raghavendra blamed MCC for the situation. He said, MCC personnel had refused to collect the waste as the quantity was large. Hence, he had hired a tractor to transport the waste, as the people who took it had assured him it would be delivered to a garment recycling unit.

Whenever the quantity of waste is large, the MCC should introduce a system of collecting it by charging a fee, he said.