The city is in the throes of a garbage crisis. There is
no end in sight even though Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)
has proposed to set up waste processing plants in each of the 28
Assembly constituencies in the city.

The civic body’s
plans have now received a shot in the arm with the Union government
announcing in the Budget 2013-14 that a scheme would be evolved to
encourage cities and municipalities to take up waste-to-energy projects
on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The Centre has proposed to
support the municipalities that will implement these projects through
different instruments such as viability gap funding, repayable grant and
low cost capital.

Scepticism

While
the industry has welcomed this move, there is some scepticism as the
waste-to-energy projects have not worked in the country.

Kalpana
Kar, solid waste management expert, pointed out that the earlier
projects (waste-to-energy) taken up in the country had failed. “The main
reason for this is that a large component of the waste generated by
Indian homes is wet waste. This is unlike in the West where the dry
waste component is more. The higher percentage of wet waste in our
garbage brings down the calorific value.”

She
explained that most waste-to-energy projects used the incineration
method. “Unless waste segregation at source is practised, such projects
will not be successful,” she added.

Some are hopeful.
M. Lakshminarayan, president of Bangalore Chamber of Industry and
Commerce, said: “The Finance Minister’s announcement on specific
allocation of fund to convert garbage to energy is a welcome measure and
it is a step in the right direction.”

BBMP
Commissioner Siddaiah welcomed the move. He said that such proposals
would benefit corporations that are trying to set up waste management
projects to process the thousands tonnes of garbage generated every day.