The addition of new processing plants, repeated awareness campaigns on segregation of waste and other such measures have done little to solve Bengaluru’s garbage disposal problem. This, despite the fact that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahananagara Palike (BBMP) has repeatedly declared that solving the garbage crisis remains on the top of its agenda.
In the face of all this, the comparatively untried solution remains penalising offenders. “There are enough directions from the High Court of Karnataka for almost every garbage offence and there are provisions in the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. There are penalties for not segregating waste, for littering and for dumping garbage on the streets. However, none of this is being implemented strictly,” said N.S Ramakanth, member of the Solid Waste Management Round Table.
However, the BBMP said that though the penalty amount may not be severe, there are working on a system to enforce it. The BBMP has floated tenders to install CCTV cameras to check civic crimes and makes attempts to fine those caught littering and adding to the garbage “black spots” in the city.
However, activists say that these measures are not enough. Street corners remain popular garbage dumping sites. “We have fines for different offences … we have also asked our people to coordinate with other authorities in the city,” said Subodh Yadav, BBMP Commissioner, Solid Waste Management.
Two months ago, the BBMP announced that it would penalise those who do not segregate waste, with fines ranging from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1 lakh depending on the amount of garbage generated.
“There have been enough awareness campaigns and enough time has passed for people to begin segregating waste and handing it over (to the pourakarmikas) as well as to stop dumping waste on the street. The citizens cannot blame the BBMP to magically clear garbage from the streets without putting in some amount of effort on their own or be penalised for not obeying the law,” said D.S. Rajashekar, President of the Citizens Action Forum, an umbrella group of around 110 residential welfare associations.
“People, even the educated class will not change their habit of littering unless there is some penalty imposed. An example is how people behave abroad and begin throwing waste on the road on their way back from the airport,” added Mr. Ramakanth.
What else can be done…
Bengaluru: Invoking the provisions of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Act of 2013, the BBMP had proposed punishment as a penalty, including imprisonment of up to three months, to enforce segregation of garbage at source. This, however, has not met with approval from any quarter. “The BBMP will have to first begin picking up waste regularly and then impose penalties in stages. They cannot really begin imprisoning people,” said Dr. Meenakshi Bharath, waste management expert, adding that it will not be difficult to identify repeat offenders and the best people to ask would be the pourakarmikas collecting waste. Also policing people on such a micro-level, despite the help of CCTV cameras and activists, might not be that easy. “Each ward has around 15,000 households for which there are three ward officers. Imposing penalties when people do not segregate is fine, but imprisonment seems a bit far-fetched idea,” said D.S. Rajashekar, president, Citizens Action Forum.
Quotes
“In order to make imposing penalties easier, I have suggested that the BBMP hire two ex-servicemen for every ward. They can go around with a stick and catch offenders. They can also be paid from the fine amount and the BBMP need not even worry about paying them,” – N.S Ramakanth, waste management expert
“A practical solution here would be to aim for 50 per cent segregation and allow the BBMP to come up with other ways to handle the waste in an environmentally conscious way. When countries like Japan incinerate their waste, we can also come up with some solution,” - Kavitha Reddy of Hasiru Mitra, a citizens group advocating anti-plastic and going the “green,” way
“There has to be a synchronisation between the contractors and the BBMP and the penalties can be imposed only if the BBMP is doing its duty in collecting the waste from households” – D.S Rajashekar, President of the Citizens Action Forum.
