If the thought of the ‘tediousness’ of segregating your own waste, let alone composting it, is keeping you from doing it, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) may offer a good reason to change your mind. The Palike is pitching for a model that involves citizens composting their waste and the civic agency buying it from them.

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said the proposal, which will be placed before the council soon, will be an incentive for citizens to compost their own wet waste after segregation, thereby also reducing the quantum of waste being collected. "It is very simple. It involves an investment of Rs. 900 for which you get three buckets and coco peat, which does not cost a lot. The manure that comes out of the exercise is of very good quality," said the commissioner, who has been composting waste in his home.

Citizens can use the compost for their own gardens and sell the excess to the BBMP, which plans to set up collection centres on the lines of the Dry Waste Collection Centres, which are present in almost all wards.

Though a rate is yet to be fixed, the manure bought from citizens will be used for its 1,300 parks or will be taken to one of its waste plants from where the Agriculture Department is already picking up compost, he added.

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad has been composting waste in his home for some time

The Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) adopted a surplus budget of Rs. 1.5 crore for the fiscal year 2017-18 at its general body meeting here on Monday.

The budget presented by CMC president Meenakshi Bannanje showed the total receipts at Rs. 100.72 crore, while the expenditure has been projected at Rs. 99.22 crores.

The budget has set aside Rs. 2.81 crore for the welfare of the SCs, STs.

This includes construction of toilets, underground drainage system, water supply connection, providing electricity, health insurance, repair and construction of community halls, and anganwadis.

An amount of Rs. 95 lakh had been allocated for enhancing greenery in the city.

Six new gardens would be developed in different parts of the city, including Kalmady Bridge, Bailoor, Kodavoor, Lakshmi Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, and Indira Nagar. Saplings would be planted in every municipal ward to increase green cover.

An amount of Rs. 21 crore has been allocated for the repair and construction of roads, drains and footpaths, while an amount of Rs. 1.33 crore has been set aside for repair and construction of storm water drains along the roads.

To facilitate smooth movement of vehicles and pedestrians, new traffic circles would be constructed at Beedinagudde, Mission Compound, End Point Junction, Brahmagiri ,and Narayana Guru Mandira under the Public Private Participation (PPP) mode.

As the present CMC office was facing constraints of space, a new CMC office would be constructed on one acre of land where the Old Taluk Office was located here. The total cost of this project was estimated at Rs. 10 crore. The CMC had decided to allot Rs. 2 crore from its funds for this purpose.

Three hi-tech bus stands would be constructed at Malpe, Manipal, and Udupi. The Detailed Project Report for the construction of the hi-tech bus stand at Manipal was ready.

Since people were found to be continuously violating rules and throwing garbage in public places, the CMC would install CCTV cameras in select places to identify persons who were throwing garbage and impose fines on them.

The weekly market being held at Santhekatte close to National Highway 66 was being shifted to place near Veerabhadra Temple and a market building would be developed there at a cost of Rs. 1.5 crore, Ms. Bannanje further said.