Bantwal: Civic Body Turns to Street Plays, to Spread Awareness on Garbage Disposal
 
Report and Pics by Mounesh Vishwakarma 
Daijiworld Media Network –Bantwal (RD/SP)
 
Bantwal, Nov 13: Tired of constantly drawing flak from the people, the town municipality has hit upon a novel idea to make the public realize that effective waste management is practically impossible without the involvement of the citizens.
 
The municipality has been facing bitter criticisms for undue delay in clearing garbage bins, consequent overflowing of the garbage bins and the apprehension about the spread of infectious diseases. 
 
The civic body was at its wit’s end over making the citizens realize that the people of the town are also partners in keeping the town hygienic and beautiful, and thus are expected to share the responsibility for proper disposal of the garbage.
 
In October this year, the municipality decided to use street plays to make the people realize that they
too had a role to play.
 
It decided to start the solid waste disposal campaign, by organizing street plays at prominent places in all the 23 wards.

 
The plays aim at sending out messages on how plastic poses a threat to the environment and how citizens can join hands with the civic body in disposing of the solid waste in an efficient manner.
 
The campaign was officially inaugurated on Wednesday November 4, and street plays have been staged at B C Road, Panemangalore, Melkar, Kaikamba and in schools under the limits of the municipality.
 
The plays are being staged by ‘Samsara’ of Education Resources Centre, with the participation of artistes like Mounesh Vishwakarma, Sandeep of Bantwal, Krishnaiah of Laila, Mukesh of Sullia, Prashant K Salian of Belgangady, Girish of Kasargod, Shivappa of Mulleria and Prakash of Badiyadka.
 
The municipality has also procured two tractors to help collect garbage from all the establishments, hotels and homes and to dispose of the garbage at a landfill site.
 
The municipality has also approved a scheme to levy additional charges for the garbage collected.
 
The tenders for collecting garbage will be floated again by the municipality, as it did not receive any response in the first tender invitation.