Bengaluru, 12 August

The Greater Bengaluru Development Department on Wednesday said that it has extended the deadline for owners of vacant sites to clean their properties till August 22.

It also appealed to them to use the additional time to clean their premises and contribute to the city-wide effort.

"The original deadline for property owners to clean their vacant sites was August 15. Considering requests for additional time, the deadline will now be extended to August 22," the department said in a statement.

These measures have been undertaken as part of the "Freedom from Waste" campaign launched by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) on August 1, aiming to make Bengaluru cleaner, more beautiful and more liveable.

According to the department, as part of the campaign, 100 trucks and 25 excavators have been deployed across the city to clear illegally dumped debris, overgrown weeds and other waste from public spaces.

So far, the campaign has resulted in the removal of more than 30,000 tonnes of debris and overgrown vegetation, it said.

The authorities have urged the owners of vacant sites to remove accumulated debris and overgrown weeds from their properties at the earliest.

Private-owned spaces and public land both must be cleaned for improvement in Bengaluru, it said.

Earlier, GBA chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao had warned that owners of vacant sites here would face fines ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh if they failed to clean their properties.