Thieves are targeting garbage bins now, as was proved recently in R.R. Nagar when a civic-minded activist decided to operate a manned kiosk to prevent garbage black spots from cropping up.
Ramakanth, who launched the pilot project at R.R. Nagar, was stunned to find that even before the project could take off, the bins themselves were stolen last week. Not once, but twice.
“The second time around, I put a lock and a mesh, but that was broken too,” he said.
The manned kiosks — colour-coded bins — were installed at places where garbage black spots are known to crop up.
“The kiosk is manned by a sanitation worker and instead of people dumping their garbage, they hand it over to the worker who segregates it into the correct bin. This is then handed over to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike vehicle,” said Mr. Ramakanth, who is also a member of the citizen’s group, Solid Waste Management Round Table.
But, after losing six bins, Mr. Ramakanth has temporarily stopped the project at R.R. Nagar.
Last week, he installed two manned kiosks in H.S.R. Layout and Sanjaynagar. As a precautionary measure, cages with “rods and fulcrums” were set up around the kiosks, so that thieves can’t get the drums. “The cage will also prevent dogs from climbing into the drums,” he said, adding that the kiosks in H.S.R Layout and Sanjaynagar are functioning well.
“The kiosk is inside a cage and there is a small gate which can be unlocked only with a key, which we have given to the pourakarmikas,” said Subbaiah from the Citizens for Sustainability initiative in his neighbourhood, Sanjaynagar.
