In an attempt aimed at reducing the burden on landfills on the outskirts of the city, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will soon stop sending waste from 31 of its 198 wards.

BBMP has identified seven wards each from the core zones (South, West and East) and two each from newly-added zones (Bommanahalli, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Yelahanka, Mahadevapura and Dasarahalli).

BBMP Additional Commissioner (South) Dr K V Thrilok Chandra said they had identified wards where there were dry waste centres (DWC) and segregation at source was successful to a larger extent.

“We will conduct massive awareness programmes on segregation of waste at source. Our officials will do door-to-door monitoring,” he said. The awareness programme is expected to be launched soon. Depending on the response, it will be extended to other wards.

Of 198 wards, BBMP has DWCs in 70 wards. The remaining are under construction, which is scheduled to be ready by this month-end.

“BBMP was supposed to construct DWCs in all the wards by April-end. However, Commissioner Siddaiah requested the High Court to extend the deadline till May as officials were busy with election duty. All the DWCs will be ready by this month-end,” an official said.

However, in many places, the public opposed setting up of such centres near their houses, including in parks.

A press release from the BBMP said once all the DWCs were functional, the quantity of garbage sent to landfills will be reduced greatly.  “If people starts segregating waste, dry waste can be sent directly to DWCs, thus reducing the quantity of waste to some extent.”

Street Plays to Create Awareness

The release further said that BBMP will conduct a 10-day awareness programme through street plays from Tuesday. 

There are 10 teams consisting of 11 artistes each. These troupes will perform street plays on segregation of waste at source, in malls, parks and other public places, the release said.

On Tuesday, the BBMP commissioner launched a similar awareness programme in Majestic area where folk artistes performed dollu kunitha and kamsale to draw public attention.

Also, BBMP is taking the help of BMTC to display advertisements on segregation of waste on the buses.