The Namma Bengaluru Habba that was organised by the Department of Tourism to create awareness about environment conservation and culture at the Sankey Tank in the City, recently ended up harming more the environment. For, post-festival, the whole area looks like a dumpyard with uncleared garbage. And not to mention about the damage it caused to the plants in the surrounding area. It may take several days to recover from the harm caused by this festival. Two days after the show the place is littered and not yet cleaned. The flower pots are broken and are scattered, reports Kannada Prabha.
Interestingly, when a private builder had attempted to construct an apartment complex near Sankey tank, the Sankey Tank Walkers' Association had protested and stopped the apartment from coming up. But now the Sankey Tank Walkers' Association has turned a blind eye to the harm caused by the Namma Bengaluru Habba.
People have not shown civic sense and littered the place with plates and cups everywhere. The lawns have been trampled upon damaging the grass. Tree branches and plants are broken. Eco-activist Suresh Heblikar said organising programmes at such a big scale should be taken up at Chitrakala Parishat or Freedom Park or any grounds. But not at a sensitive place like Sankey Tank.
However, Priyank Kharge, Minister for Tourism, has defended the programme and said that utmost care would be taken to avoid such mistakes, next time. The programme was organised to create awareness about environment, conservation of tanks. "We had banned plastic and dustbins were provided, everywhere. No activity causing harm to environment was included. Small slip-ups do occur when organising an event of such a big scale. In future, care will be taken to avoid them," he said.