Citizens and solid waste management experts are sceptical about the BBMP’s will to implement its ambitious plan to streamline Bengaluru’s solid waste management system, and ensure 100% segregation by the end of 2019. The consensus is that the targets it has set for itself are unrealistic.
According to waste management expert V. Ramaprasad, the Swachh Survekshan’s sustained monitoring mechanism is arm-twisting the BBMP to come up with and implement the road map in haste. “All these suggestions, strategies, and action plans have been around for at least three years. Now, they have just put everything together with unreliable baseline data for a micro plan and expect miracles within six months,” he said.
In December 2015, the Karnataka High Court made segregation at source mandatory, but the BBMP failed to implement the order. To date, only around 35% of the total waste generated in the city gets segregated.
Waste management experts point out that in many cases citizens segregate waste at home only to find pourakarmikas aggregating them at the time of collection.
“If the BBMP has not been able to implement this for at least four years, can it be implemented in four months,” asked Pranay Dubey, a member of the residents’ welfare association Electronics City Rising.
Mahalakshmi Parthasarathy, a resident of Bannerghatta Road who is actively involved in civic issues, is of the opinion that the BBMP has set itself unrealistic targets and deadlines. “If the BBMP cannot hold ward committee meetings, can you expect it to implement all these suggestions and proposals within a few months, let alone achieving them,” she said, adding that until the ban on plastic is strictly enforced, Bengaluru’s garbage problem will persist. “In spite of a ban on plastic bags, implementation has not at all been effective,” she added.
Many hailed the proposal to increase fines, but pointed out that the BBMP should providing basic requirements and infrastructure like public toilets.
