The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities began the
door-to-door survey on waste segregation in south zone wards on
Thursday.

During the survey, residents were seen handing over
segregated waste, while the same was being mixed during transportation
to landfills.

Madhu Joshi, a housewife, said they are segregating
waste since four months. “It only takes an additional five minutes to
segregate waste. I have no issues in segregating,” she said. Parimala
Rao, a senior citizen who segregates waste at source, said: “It is a
simple process. All the waste that contains water needs to be kept
separately,” she told ‘Express’, who accompanied the BBMP officials
during the survey in Pattabhiram Nagar ward (Jayanagar constituency).

Vennar
Organic Fertilizer Private Limited managing director Narendra Babu V,
which takes care of BBMP’s Organic Waste Converter (OWC) at Jayanagar,
said: “Residents are segregating waste, but the garbage contractors are
mixing it up during transportation. We cannot convert mixed waste into
manure.” He added, “Earlier, we had chosen 14 streets in Jayanagar 3rd
Block and there was a volunteer in each street who would ensure waste is
segregated. But, by the time it reaches our OWC, dry and wet waste are
mixed.”

On the other hand, pourakarmikas blame residents for not
segregating. Manjula, a pourakarmika, said: “Every day, I visit nine
streets in Jayanagar. Many people say segregating waste is not their
job. If we insist, they scold us. Therefore, we collect whatever waste
they give and segregate it ourselves.”

During the visits, BBMP
officials collect information from residents such as the house owner’s
name, address, telephone number, nature of waste and other details.

BBMP
superintendent engineer H T Bettegowda said the survey will go on for
at least three to four days. “We will study the data and, based on the
report, we will approach the owners who do not segregate waste. With the
data, we will have proof too,” he said.

In the coming days, BBMP
officials are planning to prepare a list of pourakarmikas, contractors
and garbage truck numbers and give it to the Resident Welfare
Association members.

“We will co-ordinate with those members to ensure waste is collected and disposed of in a systematic manner,” he added.