In this episode of Active Bengaluru, Raja Lakshmi and Sheikh Mubarak from Saahas speak with RJ Usha from the sidelines of the recently concluded Lalbhagh Flower Show.

Since October 2018, Saahas has been leading the ‘Litter Free Lalbhagh’ campaign at the Lalbhagh Flower Show. This was the third flower show at which the Saahas team was working on the waste management side of things.

“The first one was challenging but from the second flower show onwards, we have planned it more thoroughly and this year had over 40 volunteers per day. We were also able to connect with the Lalbhagh authorities and they helped in banning single-use plastic from the premises. Blue and green waste bins were installed. The first step was to tackle litter inside Lalbhagh, so we made sure that the volunteers tell all vistors to not litter. We worked with the collection team and made sure that the bins were emptied frequently as the number of visitors rose. The Lalbhagh staff also helped a great deal by assigning us extra staff members. In total, two tonnes of waste was generated at the festival.”

This year at the festival, food for the Lalbhagh and police staff was served on steel cutlery. A total of 150 sets of blue and green bins were installed. Volunteers came from all sectors. Lakshmi says that the efforts of all Bangaloreans made the efforts successful. “This time, the number of food stalls was also reduced to make sure waste is lower; a lot of strict rules were in place for the hawkers.”

Two supervisors had continuously led the awareness-creation. Dry waste was categorised into 14 varieties and sent to the nearest DWCCs while the wet waste will be used by the Lalbhagh authorities for composting.

Saahas was the prime waste management NGO and the team was supported by other NGOs. Visitors were also very supportive.

𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁? 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘂𝗽!