The Hindu 16.08.2013
Segregation at source is crucial for a clean city
to the importance of garbage segregation, the plans of the BBMP and the
government of having a garbage-free city are far from being realised.—
Photo: K. Gopinathan
Ask any Bangalorean what their pet peeve is and garbage
is likely to be the top answer. It is no wonder that solid waste
management is the priority for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike
(BBMP).
Not too long ago, garbage posed a gargantuan
problem for the BBMP. The problem erupted in September last year when
the communities living around the landfills protested against the BBMP
for dumping untreated waste.
The city generates
around 3,600 tonnes of waste a day. When the communities protested,
garbage started piling up across the city.
Waking up
to the crisis, the BBMP has since held numerous consultations with solid
waste management experts. It was after this that the civic body
realised that the solution to the city’s problems lay in segregation of
waste at source.
With the communities living around
Mandur landfill renewing their threat earlier this week to stop lorries
from dumping the city’s waste in their backyard yet again, the residents
could be staring at another full-blown garbage crisis. Though
segregation of waste was made mandatory in the city from October 1, it
is not being implemented. To stress on segregation, the BBMP has set up
dry waste collection centres in 142 wards and 43 are under construction.
It
has also taken up zero waste programme in 30 wards, including eight
wards in partnership with ITC Ltd. However, with segregation yet to take
off, the BBMP continues to dump mixed waste in the four landfills —
Mandur, S. Bingipura, Lakshmipura and Terra Firma.
BBMP
officials conceded that with citizens yet to wake up to the importance
of segregation, the plans of the BBMP and the government of having a
garbage-free city are far from being realised.
The
civic body’s proposal to penalise citizens who fail to segregate waste
at source is pending with the government. “Even if the citizens
segregate waste, the pourakarmikas who collect waste aggregate it.
Though training programmes have been held for the pourakarmikas,
facilities to collect the segregated waste separately and dispose them
of are yet to be put in place fully,” the official said.
The
BBMP believes that a large part of the problem will be solved if the
new garbage tenders are finalised. Of the 91 garbage packages, the BBMP
has contractors for 51 packages only. The hold of the “garbage mafia” is
yet to be broken. The BBMP has floated 50 new tenders, but these are
yet to be opened. Officials said that once the High Court gives the BBMP
the go ahead, the tenders will be finalised.
While
the situation may seem like it is under control, none of the solutions
proposed by the solid waste management experts have been implemented,
giving rise to fears that the city could be engulfed in its own garbage
anytime again.