VIJAYAPURA: The city of Vijayapura, famous as the seat of the Adil Shahi dynasty and its heritage structures of architectural importance, is slowly turning into a garbage dump. The 500-year-old heritage sites have also now turned into places of open defecation and urination.
The city houses more than 90 heritage monuments, but only a few of them are being maintained by the Archeological Society of India (ASI). What’s worse is that a majority of the poorly maintained monuments is located near the Deputy Commissioner’s and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer’s residences.
Historians and people blame the authorities for the poor waste management of the city for this situation.
The monuments maintained by ASI are spick and span, and every day, thousands of tourists flock to these sites. But those not maintained by the ASI are in a pathetic condition — especially moats around sites like Gagan Mahal, Asar Mahal and Sangeet Mahal, which have completely turned into garbage dumpyards.
According to locals, people are forced to throw garbage there due to lack of waste bins. And in the early mornings, people living nearby defecate inside the heritage premises, they added.
The moat at the Gagan Mahal was planned to be developed into a tourist attraction with boating and gardens. By spending more than `10 lakh, the authorities cleaned the moat, but its assurance of introducing boat rides is still only on paper.
Now, the moat is completely filled with garbage and the corporation authorities are least bothered to clean them, claiming that they belong to the ASI, residents said.
Disappointed at the apathy of the authorities, Abdul Aziz, a historian, said, “This negligence by the corporation authorities is unacceptable.
The historical monuments have to be maintained to attract more tourists, but no efforts are being made in this regard. The authorities concerned have to install waste bins outside the heritage monuments so that people stop throwing garbage inside the premises.
And they have to construct more public toilets at all the heritage places to stop people from open defecation and urination. We have tried our best to bring this to the notice of authorities, but in vain.”
Similarly, more than 50 heritage sites are poorly maintained.
Audram, Commissioner of Vijayapura City Corporation, told TNIE, “We are trying our best to educate people not to throw garbage and defecate in public places. Even in the morning hours, we send the garbage collecting vehicles to all the houses located in the city. But most of them fail to respond. In the following days, an effort will be made to install waste bins and construct public toilets in all the heritage places.”