The long-awaited clean-up marshals scheme has finally taken off, but not in its original form. Instead of being deployed in all wards of the city to ensure segregation of waste at source, the first team of 20 clean-up marshals will now be deployed to guard the four quarry-landfills on the outskirts of the city where waste is being dumped, much to the chagrin of locals who have been agitating against this.
The clean-up marshals have been recruited from the Karnataka Ex-Servicemen Welfare Society, supported by the Department of Sainik Welfare and Resettlement, Government of Karnataka. “These marshals, will be armed with single and double barrel rifles,” said Col. Rajveer Singh, Code of Military Police, who initiated the scheme.
Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, said that the BBMP Council had given its approval to deploy clean-up marshals only at quarries and waste processing plants, but not in the wards. “The next team will be deployed at all the eight waste processing units in the city,” he said.
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Armed marshals at the quarries will take stock of all entry and exit of garbage laden trucks, which according to Mr. Khan, will curtail illegal dumping of waste at these points. “There have been reports of local ruffians extorting money from truck drivers and beating up our officials as well. Such instances will be checked with the marshals on guard,” he said. BBMP has also put up CCTV cameras and boom barrier gates at all the quarries to regulate the entry of trucks.
The marshals will be deployed in three shifts to guard the quarries round the clock. Presently, BBMP dumps waste in Bagalur, Mittaganahalli, Kannur and Bellahalli quarries.