The Ragpicker's Education and Development Scheme (REDS), a voluntary organisation, has been working to change the perception about these unsung heroes.

“We wanted to give the ragpickers an identity, dignity of life and job security,” said Prema Mantesh, programme director, REDS. Apart from day care and training centres, REDS introduced a community-based income generation programme for the ragpickers of Bangalore in 1995.

Under this programme there are five families from the Vinayaknagar slum involved in the collection of waste material from areas such as Langford Road, Langford Road Garden, Primrose Road, Brunton Road, Convent Road, Eagle street, Alexander street and surrounding areas.

The families visit 65 apartments, 38 households and 20 offices every day.

Their responsibilities include door-todoor collection of waste and segregation of dry and wet materials.

Each of these areas has a REDS coordinator, at the end of the month he collects the bill amount from the residents and this constitutes the salary of the ragpicker. ”They earn up to Rs 3000 each month.” said Prema.

Fifty-five-year old , Thandayamma, who has been working around Nanjappa Circle for the past decade, says, “It is due to this programme that I get food to eat.” With the salary, Jeeva a single parent who has worked with the NGO for 15 years has not only built a house but has also got the older of her three daughters married.

Apart from the salary, the ragpickers earn around Rs 50-150 a day selling waste for recycling.

The BBMP has been supportive of this initiative. It is through this programme that Thangavail, 26, was hired by the BBMP on a contract basis for waste collection.

The BBMP should supplement more of these ragpickers for the collection of solid waste, but the collection should be of only dry waste and should be executed in a hygienic manner, said Kathyayini Chamraj, Trustee, CIVIC.

The ragpickers have collectively requested the BBMP to give them place to park their three wheeler push carts in each area. “We are also requesting the BBMP to give us a space for segregation of wet and dry waste in each ward,” said Prema.

Though the state produces tonnes of e-waste every year, no treatment plant has been set up in the state for scientific disposal of the electronic particles containing hazardous elements.

The new peril to human health and environment generated by the boom in the use of electronic gadgets has become even more severe as the treatment plants functioning in the nearby states are also not ready to collect the waste particles owing to lack of economic viability. The throw-away electronic particles are now being collected by scrap dealers.

The guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board directs that collection and disposal of e-waste is not to be entrusted to local scrap dealers and the disposal should be entrusted with specialised agencies that can safely handle the heavy metals and other hazardous substances contained in electronic equipment without contaminating the environment.

However, the scrap dealers collect e-waste, which encompasses computers, servers, mainframes, monitors, TVs and display devices, cellular phones and pagers, calculators, audio and video devices, printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines besides refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens, industrial electronics such as sensors, alarms, sirens, security devices and automobile electronic devices, from households and IT related companies and dispose it without ensuring any safety measures.

The Pollution Control Board in 2008 had also issued a notice to the Techno Park management for not ensuring proper facilities for e-waste disposal.

Owners of electronic showrooms also hand over their obsolete products to the agents of junk dealers to get rid of the outdated and outmoded particles.

As a result, the rows of picture tubes, monitors, particles of refrigerators in front of the shelters of the junk dealers have become a frequent scene in many parts of the state. In Kozhikode, Vellayil beach in the city and Azhiyoor near Vadakara are the main centres of the junk dealers who collect e-waste.

Besides, they break the glasses and separate the metallic particles and sell it to the metallic recycling units where these hazardous particles are recycled along with other metals. The presence of lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants cause health and environmental hazards.

When asked about the measures of Pollution Control Board for restricting the unscientific disposal of e-waste, Govindan Nair, Senior Environmental Engineer with PCB, told that the PCB had started the implementation of new laws and had completed the collection of data from IT companies. Another data of the house hold e-waste and its quantity is also being collected, he added.

Certain companies those carry out scientific e-waste treatment has come up to begin their agencies in the state to collect the e-waste and with the commencement of scientific treatment plant the problems could be solved, he exuded confidence.