The Hindu 07.10.2013
‘Let each ward manage their waste at the local level’
Suggestions of expert group on SWM is now before High Court
What are the strategies and methods that the city needs to adopt to liberate itself from being labelled “garbage city?”
An expert committee, constituted by the State last year suggested answers to this question in its report - titled “A future with no landfills.”
It recommends moving towards zero-waste systems through multiple approaches, including processing municipal solid waste (MSW) through composting or biogas (not incineration), recycling, re-use of recyclables, etc.
Quoting SAARC’s “Dhaka Declaration 2004 on Waste Management”, the report states that open dumping should be stopped immediately, incineration technologies should not be used, and community-based waste segregation at source should be adopted.
A Division Bench of the High Court, which is monitoring measures taken to solve garbage crisis through public interest litigation (PIL) petitions, will soon go through the committee’s recommendations before giving specific directions to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahangara Palike (BBMP) on future MSW management. The committee includes among others Almitra H. Patel, whose PIL plea in the apex court resulted in Municipal Waste Management Rules, 2000, the country’s first rule in MSW area, and seven other experts.
One of the main suggestions is that all domestic waste generated from each ward of the BBMP should be processed and managed within the boundaries of the respective ward. This is to keep citizen responsibilities at the local level strong, besides making the process cost-effective.
This suggestion has already been taken note of by the court. In its recent hearing, it had asked the BBMP Commissioner to look out for sufficient space on the lines of dry waste collection centres in each ward. The committee also suggested that no garbage contractor should service more than 5 to 6 wards and should not service the same area for more than one tender period. It has also suggested that the existing tipping-fee concept for transporting waste should be replaced by a support price to the compost (or processed end-product), similar to the payment made to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation.
The BBMP, should directly service at least 40 per cent of the city through its pourakarmikas, and these wards should be identified separately, should not be mixed with those under private contractors, so that comparative performance can be assessed.
The report also recommends that the BBMP should unload daily wet waste and mixed waste separately as per MSW Rules. And night unloading must be phased out at the earliest, so that wastes do not rot within the vehicle (from morning to night) and become hard to compost after unloading.
