Ask any Bangalorean what bugs him or her about the city and, apart from the manic traffic, the answer would be garbage. Particularly those big, rotting mounds lying for days and weeks, festooned by raggedy plastic bags.
You can't separate the issue of plastics from the garbage problem. Earlier this year, the Plastic Handling Rules 2011, notified by the Union Government prohibited manufacturers from producing plastic below 40 microns in thickness. The previous rules had set the limit at 20 microns.
Even as the jury is out on whether this is necessarily the best way to tackle the plastics issue, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have been enforcing these rules since March.
The BBMP, on its part, claims Bangalore is one of the few cities to have system of door-to-door collection of the 3,000 tonnes of solid waste (garbage) that is generated every day in the city. It has now proposed to set up dry waste collection centres, with emphasis on segregation at source and recycling.
This month, The Hindu 's Reader Connect Programme, It's Official, endeavours to address these issues at a platform where officials of both KSPCB and BBMP will take questions.
KSPCB Chairperson A.S. Sadashivaiah and BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah will interact with readers on the issues relating to plastics and garbage on August 27. Citizens, environmentalists, experts, plastic manufacturers and other stakeholders are invited to send their questions/suggestions/complaints /comments on the issue of garbage, its management, and plastics to It's Official, The Hindu, 19 & 21, Bhagwan Mahaveer Road (Infantry Road), Bangalore 560001, or itsofficial.thehindu@gmail.com by August 22.
