By Express News Service BENGALURU: Around 300 people, including employees of JP Morgan, pourakarmikas from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and locals of ward number 153 joined hands on Saturday to clean up Byrasandra Lake and its surroundings. Members of RBI Employees Housing Colony Welfare Association, Tilak Nagar Residents Welfare Association and United Way Bengaluru, along with former mayor and corporator Gangambika Mallikarjun also participated. Armed with gloves and face masks, they collected five auto tippers full of garbage and two lorry full loads of debris in just three hours. An entrance to the lake, which is a garbage collection site and a permanent black spot, was cleaned up and chlorine powder was spread all around to keep insects and mosquitoes at bay. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about the foul stench. One of the entrances of the lake also serves as a lorry and garbage compactor parking lot, which the BBMP said it will look into. Corporator Gangambike said that since most people living near the lake are economically weak, it is important to educate them. “Unless there is proper segregation and disposal mechanism, no matter how much cleaning is done, the garbage will return,” she said. The lake was adopted by JP Morgan in July. On Saturday, the employees and members of various RWAs also visited many residents to spread the message on the importance of garbage segregation, said Johnny D S, from UWB. Venkat Subbarao, Retd RBI General Manager and former president of RBI Employees Housing Colony Welfare Association, said the problem now is that the inlets and outlets were all blocked by garbage and silt. “This should also be addressed apart from cleaning the lake’s surroundings,” he said.

Stay updated with all the Bangalore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.