BANGALORE: The general shutdown in the city following the death of Kannada superstar Rajkumar brought the cleaning activities in the city to a halt on Thursday.

Garbage collection and transportation was hit because the pourakarmikas and lorry drivers could not turn up for duty.

Besides, over 60 to 70 lorries loaded with garbage, which were on their way to the "makeshift" dumping yards on the outskirts of the city on Wednesday were stranded near Krishnarajpuram and Mavallipura.

Garbage not lifted

According to private garbage contractors, about 50 per cent of Wednesday's garbage in health wards coming in the jurisdiction of Yeshwanthpur, Malleswaram, Rajajinagar, Sanjaynagar and Gandhinagar could not be lifted because the lorries were stranded. "Obviously, these lorries could not come back for lifting garbage on Thursday.

"With the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses remaining off the road on Thursday, none of the workers employed by us could attend work.

Plight of women

"We cannot do anything as women have to come from various parts of the city. Even most of the workers on regular rolls with Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) could not turn up," Bangalore Mahanagara Swachate Lorry Maalikara Mattu Guttigedarara Sangha general secretary S. Balasubramaniam said.

As a result, residents of Vijaynagar, Govindrajnagar, Amarjyothinagar, parts of Rajajinagar, Viveknagar, Seshadripuram, Jayamahal, Gurapannapalya and several other areas had to put up with heaps of garbage strewn all over the roads.

Some areas not hit

When contacted, BMP Deputy Commissioner (Health) Manu P. Baligar told The Hindu that most of the areas cleaned by the regular BMP workers were not affected. "But there was a problem in wards cleaned by contract workers," he said.

On their part, the private contractors were ready to take up extra work on Friday to clear the accumulated waste.

Mounting problem

"We hope that the situation will become normal by Friday. Although it will be a big problem to dispose garbage of two days, we will take up double trips to transport the accumulated waste.

Our workers will work overtime on Friday to ensure that all piles are cleared," Mr. Balasubramanaiam said.

"Although the workers could not attend duty, we will not deduct their wages as this is an emergency situation," he added.

Over 350 lorries are deployed to transport the city's daily garbage of 2,200 tonnes.

Over 10,000 workers, including 6,300 contract pourakramikas, are deployed to clean the city.

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