The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday asked the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner to identify a suitable place in each of the 28 Assembly constituencies in the city to set up municipal solid waste (MSW) processing units.
A Division Bench comprising Justice N. Kumar and Justice B.V. Nagarathna issued the direction while hearing a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions on the garbage problem.
The Bench said that after its >recent visit to some waste collection centres and processing units, along with members of the solid waste management expert committee, it believed that setting up waste processing units in each Assembly constituency would reduce the cost incurred in transporting waste to distant landfills. Besides, it would ensure that residents of the city’s outskirts are not affected by Bangalore’s waste.
The Commissioner was asked to file a report on dry waste collection centres already set up or in the process of being set up.
Suggestions sought
The Bench also asked the BBMP Commissioner, members of the expert committee and others to file statements on the advantages and disadvantages of both suggested models of waste collection — segregation at source and collection without segregation — including the cost involved in both.
Two-bin system
The judges advised the Commissioner to consider the possibility of introducing a two-bin system for collecting dry and wet waste from each household, instead of collecting them in polythene covers.
Cost of packages
They sought details on the cost of collection and transportation of garbage in areas covered under 41 garbage packages before and after discontinuation of services of private contractors upon expiry of their term.
The Bench said it would visit a landfill and biomethanisation centre at Yelahanka early next month before issuing final orders on the petitions.
Meanwhile, Assistant Solicitor General of India Kalyan Basavaraj informed the Bench that the Ministry of Environment has withdrawn the draft MSW Management Rules 2013, which was proposed to replace the exiting Rules, 2000. He said the Ministry would issue a fresh draft as per the directions of the court and submit a notification for court’s perusal.
