Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations in Belagavi proved to be a task for the civic workers of the city corporation, with a team of a dozen officers and staff being deployed for over six hours to clean up the garbage.
Over 7,000 kilograms of waste were picked up from the Rani Channamma Circle and surrounding areas where the celebrations were held. Ragpickers, who are paid on the quantum of garbage collected, earned over ₹20,000, for collecting around two tonnes of plastic bottles. Belagavi City Corporation (BCC) officials estimate that there were at least 70,000 bottles of one litre each.
The other waste included footwear, plastic bottles and bags, clothes, and flowers. BCC officials said that dry waste of around four tonnes, including clothes, rubber and plastic, were sent to a private cement factory to be used as fuel.
BCC Commissioner Ashok Dudagunti said that pourakarmikas and ragpickers were on the job from November 2 midnight and finished their job before daybreak on November 3.
BCC utilises the services of around 475 ragpickers on a job work basis. They are in addition to the large team of Poura Karmikas (civic workers) employed by the local urban body.
“They earn around ₹200 per day. But on November 3, each of the 10 workers took home around ₹2,000,” according to Hanumanth Kaladagi, environment engineer.
Police estimate that nearly five lakh young people from Belagavi, the district and neighbouring districts participated in the Kannada Rajyotsava celebrations that went on for nearly 24 hours. The song and dance performances that started on November 1 evening, went on till the afternoon of November 2.
