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Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa managed to secure the presence of 15 of the 17 BJP MLAs from Bangalore at a meeting convened by him to discuss the garbage crisis and the drinking water problem in BBMP limits.

The garbage issue appears to have come in handy for Yeddyurappa. During the two-hour meeting, he also discussed the problems in their constituencies and the progress of development works. Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka, ministers Shobha Karandlaje, V Somanna and Aravind Limbavali were present.

Only two MLAs from Bangalore - minister Suresh Kumar and Malleswaram legislator Ashwathnarayana Gowda - did not make it to the meeting. According to sources close to Yeddyurappa, it is a carefully crafted move by him to turn his focus on Bangalore as elections are round the corner.

Yeddyurappa later told reporters that the garbage problem was the result of the lack of planning by previous governments.

He said the government should immediately call short term tenders from firms to convert garbage into fuel, fertilisers or power.
He also supported Environment Minister Sogadu Shivanna’s proposal to ban plastic carry bags.

The City MLAs would meet Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on September 14 to discuss drinking water projects taken up by BWSSB and the garbage crisis, he said.
Yeddyurappa said he and some of his followers would visit Namakkal in Tamil Nadu to study the solid waste management system there.

A majority of the legislators reportedly blamed the BBMP officials and the garbage mafia for the present fiasco. Karnataka Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) chairperson A S Sadashivaiah also came in for criticism.

Suresh Kumar flayed

BWSSB Minister Suresh Kumar was reportedly at the receiving end of the BJP legislators’ ire.

They were angry with Kumar for not responding to their complaints about erratic drinking water supply in their constituencies. The sinking of public borewells has virtually come to a halt in Bangalore, they reported to told Yeddyurappa.