P henomenal growth of population and expansion of the municipal limits of Bengaluru have hugely impacted the cleaning arrangement for the city and disposal of garbage, which together is described as Solid Waste Management (SWM).
With water, power and transport for the city having been assigned to BWSSSB, Bescom and BMTC respectively — all State government undertakings — SWM and the maintenance of roads are the only major tasks that remain with the BBMP. Piles of garbage dented the city’s reputation three years ago as the city shot into global headlines with complaints of inefficient handling of waste emanating from citizens and protests rising from villages near landfills.
Bengaluru’s 20 lakh households generate around 4,200 tonnes of solid waste every day. Sixty per cent of it is wet waste which, if effectively handled, could contribute to mitigation of citizens’ woes significantly. Currently, most of it is being transported to landfills which are unscientifically planned. Pollutants from these piles are not merely threatening the villages. The trajectory of the city’s growth indicates that the city’s periphery is itself inching towards them. Besides, the enormity of the task of collection, compaction and transportation has brought in a mafia which operates with the involvement of truckers who are in league with corporators and bureaucrats.
Threadbare discussion
The complex nature of the crisis was discussed threadbare at a conclave organised by a media house in the city last Saturday (October 6). Attending it were Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad and Wilma Rodriguez, representative of Saahas, an NGO highlighting the issue of dealing with waste since 2001.
Setting the tone for the discussion, Ms. Wilma said Bengaluru was the first city to lay down a formal policy to deal with the bulk waste generators; to set up Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCC); and introduce ID cards for waste-pickers. But over the years serious gaps have emerged in the policy framework compounded by failure to comply with bylaws and faulty implementation.
She pointed out that only 60% of the city’s solid waste gets segregated at source. If segregation could be increased to 85%, 15.5 lakh tonnes of additional waste could be saved from ending up in landfills annually. Recounting the Saahas experience, Ms. Wilma says: “Every tonne of waste could provide employment to 10 persons”.
Resource, not hazard
Mr. Manjunath Prasad says a more aware and cooperative public could help the civic body grapple with the problem of waste. People need to be aware that unsafe disposal could have consequences recoiling upon themselves. He points out that efficient collection and disposal in the recommended manner can help garbage become a resource rather than a health hazard.
He said that though there have been no drastic changes in dealing with waste mechanism, incremental improvement could be observed over the years. According to him, BBMP rules specify one pourakarmika for every 700 population. Wages are now digitally transferred to the bank accounts of 40,000 pourakarmikas, thereby eliminating the scope for delays and defaults by garbage contractors.
Five hundred tonnes of garbage from bulk generators (function halls, kalyana mantapas , hotels, restaurants each of whom generate more than 10 kg of waste per day) is being routed through empanelled vendors.
Dry waste is being collected by 266 DWCCs which pass this on to recyclers.
Goods autos which previously carried the garbage leading to littering at the transfer stations, have now been replaced with auto-tippers which are tilted over compactors, thereby ensuring no involvement of human hands.
Leachate and NIMBY
Yet, Mr. Prasad admits, issues remain. Leachate keeps dripping on roads when compactors race to the landfills. Transfer stations and composting centres still remain a sore point with residents who, guided by NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) mindset, do not want them anywhere near their habitats. The BBMP has set up seven composting centres at a cost of ₹ 400 crore. The mandatory buffer zone between such centres and human habitations vanish within no time as slums sprout on such lands.
Rot is deeper
Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Parameshwara, who also holds the portfolio of Bengaluru Development, said it hurts when Bengaluru is projected as ‘a garbage city’ and hogs headlines in the New York Times .
He said that soon after he assumede charge of the portfolio, contractors struck work as arrears had piled up. His Ministry released ₹160 crore to tide over the crisis. But the rot was deeper.
He revealed that while the BBMP was being charged for 5,000 vehicles (compactors plus auto-tippers), only about 2,600 were actually operating. While payments were being made for 40,000 pourakarmikas, only around 18,000 were deployed on the ground.
“Now we are paying ₹1,200 crore to them annually to clean up the city on a daily basis. We have introduced biometric attendance for them. Yet places like K. R. Market present an ugly sight what with nearly 50 tonnes of garbage rotting around on an average day,” he lamented.
Mr. Parameshwara rued that even in a posh locality like RMV Extension, residents dispose of garbage on the roadside.
Mushrooming PGs
The Deputy Chief Minister said the city has been rid of flex boards and indicated that even gantries will be removed and a new advertisement policy will be formulated.
In response to the woes expressed by the participants, Mr. Prasad said the BBMP will soon publish the names and phone numbers of Health Inspectors of various wards.
A resident indicated that PGs were mushrooming in private residences and there was no clarity in bylaws if they came under bulk generators. A participant pointed out that a single ward in South Bengaluru had 30 PGs. Mr. Prasad sought the cooperation of the city residents by opting for simple onsite composting of biodegradable waste within their homes or plots, thereby bringing down the amount of biodegradable waste that has to be sent to landfills.
