The Hindu 03.09.2012
Garbage deadline won’t go waste
BANGALORE: The BBMP chief is confident that garbage in the city will be cleared by Monday night when the three-day deadline he had set for the task ends. However, heaps of muck lying at every street corner have a different story to tell even as civic body staff removed waste from some places and sprinkled bleaching powder in the cleared spots.
Commissioner Rajneesh Goel said the first target is to clear all heaps
that have piled up over the past few days. ''By Monday morning, around
3,000 tonnes of garbage will be cleared from localities in northern and
southern parts of the city where I had toured till Sunday; over 5,000
tonnes will be cleared by evening. We should be able to achieve our
target of clearing 7,500 tonnes of old stocks of waste by Monday night."
He said massive cleaning-up operations have been taken up in Yelahanka
and South Bangalore areas, including Jayanagar, JP Nagar and
Banashankari, during the weekend. "Two bins have to be
distributed to people for segregating dry and wet waste. There are
logistical issues in bringing this routine into effect, ward-wise and
area-wise," Goel admitted.
The BBMP appears to be veering
around a three-point plan to counter the endless threat from garbage:
effectively implement ban on plastics, involve NGOs and resident welfare
associations (RWAs) in addressing the issue and explore energy
generation from waste processing.
Goel said ban on plastic will
soon be implemented strictly in Bangalore and this will go a long way
in solving the problems of recycling and reducing waste. "Every huge
heap of garbage contains at least 10 kg of plastic of over 40-micron
thickness.
We will have to simultaneously educate people to
segregate, not to use plastic of more than 40 microns, and educate
pourakarmikas on these issues," he added.
He is planning to
meet NGOs involved in solid waste management and composting on Tuesday
and resident welfare associations later in the week. "I need support
from them to spread awareness on segregation of waste at source and also on plastic ban," Goel said.
BBMP has been approached by five private companies who are in the
business of waste management and generating electricity and biogas from
waste processing. The commissioner said he will meet the companies to
check the possibilities of having more processing units to tackle the
city's waste.
