The Hindu Karnataka (Banagalore) 06.09.2016
Ex-servicemen may monitor garbage segregation at source
Cleaning up:A recent survey found that only 40 p.c. of Bengaluru was segregating waste.— File Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy
Battle-hardened ex-servicemen may fight the city’s
garbage menace if a proposal put forward by the Bruhat Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is accepted by the Karnataka government.
Unable
to enforce garbage segregation at source across the city, BBMP is now
turning towards ex-servicemen to enforce “garbage discipline”.
“Every
ward will ideally have two ex-servicemen. They will have to ensure that
waste is segregated at source by the citizens, and contractors
regularly collect and dispose of this waste in a proper manner,” said
Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, BBMP.
These ex-servicemen will have their own uniforms and will have the authority to penalise offenders.
The
decision follows a suggestion made by N.S. Ramakanth, a garbage expert
and member of the Solid Waste Management Round Table, whose survey had
found that only 40 per cent of the city was segregating waste.
Though segregation of waste at source is mandatory, not many follow it.
Waste
processing plants in the city often struggle to handle mixed waste and
this eventually reaches a landfill away from the city.
Transportation problems
Garbage contractors have been found to be dumping unsegregated waste at street corners to avoid paying for transportation.
Sometimes when garbage is not collected for days, residents too begin dumping it on the roads, sources said.
“We
are finalising the logistics, including salary, after which short-term
tenders will be issued. There are various ex-servicemen groups in the
city and we will be handing over this on contract basis,” Mr. Sarfaraz
Khan said, adding that the penalisation will be applicable to both
citizens and garbage contractors. Ex-servicemen will also report on the
ground-level work of the BBMP in each of its wards.
Though
welcoming the move, Col. John Serrao from the ECHS Ex-servicemen Group,
is slightly apprehensive whether ex-servicemen will be very comfortable
with the policing aspects that this venture involves.
“Dealing
with civilians and trying to discipline and police them is a Herculean
task and very different from what servicemen do while in the service.
So, in my opinion, it might not be that easy to get servicemen to do
this,” he said.