The Hindu       21.03.2016  

BBMP looks to establish waste transfer stations

With the aim of doing away with the ungainly sight of garbage getting unloaded from smaller collection vehicles — usually autorickshaws — into a bigger vehicle parked on the street, the BBMP is planning to install waste transfer stations at key locations in the city.

“We have identified a place in Cox Town where we will be setting up such a station on a pilot basis. We hope to have the logistics sorted out and get the project up and running by the end of this year,” said Subodh Yadav, Special Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, BBMP.

He said this way, garbage would not be left strewn on the street during the transfer.

At a waste transfer station, the garbage unloaded from collection vehicles will be held briefly and later, it will be reloaded into long-distance transport vehicles for shipment.

The facility will have a compactor and the waste will be loaded onto a tray which then moves to shift the fresh waste onto the compactor without any spillage. The compacted waste will then be sent to the BBMP’s new processing plants.

However, civic experts believe the idea will work only if such facilities are put up across the city. “I do not know whether the city has enough space to accommodate so many stations. These sort of things will have to be worked out if this to run successfully,” said N.S. Ramakanth, member of Solid Waste Management Round Table, a citizens’ group that has also worked with BBMP to provide solutions to the city’s garbage woes.