Karnataka

APS students lend BBMP a helping hand

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Bangalore, September 17: Think of K.R. Market and the first thing you get in your mind is heaps of vegetable waste and flower waste lying almost everywhere. Not just that, there is ruminating cattle freely roaming even while vendors with wares spread out in the corridors and walkways do some brisk business. Being one of the oldest markets, it is crowded at all times of the day, and more so during festivals. No wonder there is a lot of uncleared garbage.

When such is the case, cleaning the market is quite a task. So, recently the civic authorities decided to do spring cleaning of the place by roping in students and non-governmental organisations. In the first such effort, as many as 500 students from Acharya Patashala institutions joined hands with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike authorities. So, on Monday morning, young and sprightly students, armed with rubber gloves, masks and brooms, put in their best efforts to clean K.R. Market. The students worked really hard from 8 a.m. till noon and assisted the BBMP personnel to clear the garbage lying all around the market.

Photo opportunity
It being the first such drive that the civic authorities had initiated, Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana and Deputy Mayor Indira, Bangalore South MP H.N. Ananth Kumar and a few BBMP councillors were all there to do their bit to clean the city’s oldest market. They had donned black T-shirts and in fact participated in the cleaning job, but alas! their job seemed to end soon after the photojournalists took their pictures.

None of the dignitaries seemed to care that the students were made to stand at the market for more than an hour under the sweltering sun. They were reportedly asked to gather at the market at around 7 a.m., while the drive began only post 8 a.m.

Sources said that two students became unconscious after standing in the heat for a long time.

The drive was kicked off by city in-charge and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who appreciated the initiative. The Minister urged the shop owners and vendors to maintain cleanliness in the market, especially after the spring cleaning drives end.

T.B. Maruthi, chairperson, APS institutions, was present.

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