The Times of India 28.08.2012
Waste pickers help out BBMP
BANGALORE: They have regular jobs but that doesn’t keep them from
taking on the city’s muck. For a programme conducted and monitored by
the Bangalore City Connect Foundation
(BCCF), many NGOs and citizens came out to clean up their
neighbourhoods and reduce the BBMP’s burden. TOI travelled with a team
to the segregating grounds.Over 100 solid waste management
workers brought in by non-profit organizations on Monday segregated dry
and wet waste at centres in Koramangala, Ejipura, HSR Layout,
Bellandur, JC Road, RT Nagar, Ulsoor, Shivajinagar and many other
pockets of the city.
“They have been mandated to pick up garbage
strewn on the roads around these areas, earmarked as black spots, and
bring it all to a waste collection centre for segregation. Dry waste,
which can be recycled, will be sent to a private firm for further
processing. Wet waste is sent to BBMP. Our intention is to reduce the
load on BBMP,” said Nalini Shekar, member of Hasiru Dala.
These
workers have been given gloves, jackets and masks as protective gear.
While the NGOs pay them Rs 300 per day for their labour, the private
company buys dry waste from them for Rs3 per kg.A dumping yard behind a BBMP
parking lot, near Forum Mall in Koramangala, is the prime segregating
ground for waste picked up from Koramangala, Adugodi and surrounding
areas. A couple of streets in Ulsoor, Ejipura and Shivajinagar were also
cleaned by these waste pickers.
“We have picked up 126kg of
waste and segregated it into dry and wet waste. The dry waste is weighed
at a private firm which takes all the recyclable items, and the waste
pickers are paid according to the weight,” Bosco Anthony, coordinator
for Shivajinagar and Ulsoor, told TOI.In Koramangala, BBMP sent
a few compactors to pick up wet waste after segregation and the dry
waste was sent to private companies which would help NGOs recycle most
of it. BBMP helped BCCF run the show by transporting it. Announcements were made in Shivajinagar that BBMP would fumigate the areas in the evening.