Built to handle one tonne a day, it becomes clear that Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCCs) are buckling under the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s haphazard and often hasty planning.
A study of 32 DWCCs – of the nearly 189 set up – has shown that more than half have been set up on plots lesser than the average house.
The study by Pinky Chandran and Sandya Narayanan from the Solid Waste Management Roundtable (SWMRT) reveals that 56 per cent of the DWCCs are set up on a 750 sq. foot area – and often, they cater to more than one ward.
“The BBMP has not made any concerted plans to assess the size of the ward or number of households. While each was expected to manage one tonne, some of the centres can barely manage about 300kg of inflow due to the irregular size of construction,” states the study.
Though set up in haste, the study points out that the decentralised garbage handling has made our landfills significantly lighter. The potential, however, is immense provided the BBMP maintains its side of the bargain: that is, enforcing segregation at source as well as providing decent facilities to DWCCs.
However, for the BBMP, land – even renting it – seems to be hard to come by. “Officially, we have 189 DWCCs, but there are complaints that these do not work, mostly because they are housed in old buildings. We are forced to rent, and many owners do not offer their premises as it involves handling garbage,” said a BBMP source.
Sarfaraz Khan, BBMP Joint Commissioner (Solid Waste Management), said that they are exploring ways to work around this.
But there are some neighbourhoods that are trying to work around not having a DWCC. “We have a collection point. All the dry waste is handed over there daily. The entire waste is driven over to the nearest DWCC,” said Subbaiah T.S. from the 'Citizens for Sustainability' group in Sanjaynagar.
In Shanthinagar, ‘90% segregation’ goes to wasteSeven neighbourhoods in Shanthinagar ward achieved 90 per cent segregation, but the entire effort was defeated in the absence of a functioning Dry Waste Collection Centre. Residents discovered that their dry waste is being dumped in an empty plot that is under some legal dispute.
“Residents are feeling cheated,” said Renuka Prasad, Shanthinagar Residents’ Association. “We have been complaining for two months and were promised a DWCC within 15 days, but nothing has been done till date.”
“In some places, DWCCs are not getting enough dry waste because people do not segregate. Hence, it is a shame that there is no DWCC in Shanthinagar where residents are so proactive,” said N.S. Ramakanth, waste management expert.
