As if solving the garbage crisis was not tough enough, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is now facing another challenge: of correctly weighing the solid waste generated in the city.
So far, the BBMP had been claiming that around 4,000 tonnes of garbage was generated in the city every day. With the garbage weighing exercise under way, it seems that the BBMP’s approximation was less, albeit marginally, than its estimate.
According to sources in the BBMP, the weight of the garbage has been varying between 3,200 tonnes and 3,800 tonnes.
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“We will be able to get a correct picture on the average only at the end of February, a month after the exercise was taken up,” the sources said and added that the estimate was “more or less” accurate.
Following directions from the High Court of Karnataka, the BBMP has taken up the garbage weighing exercise in all earnestness from February 1. The trial run was taken up between January 25 and February 1.
A senior official said that garbage weighing was being taken up at private weighbridges on the way to the landfills. There are weighbridges in the landfills at Doddaballapura, Mandur and Mavallipura.
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“The executive engineers of the 28 sub-divisions have been directed to monitor garbage weighing. They are now collating the data from all the receipts issued at the private weighbridges,” the official added.
While stating that the quantum of garbage cannot be constant, the official said that there may be several reasons for the fluctuations in weight. “There has been no exercise to weigh the garbage generated in the city. We concur with the High Court’s view that the data on actual garbage generated in the city is a crucial aspect to decide on commissioning waste processing units,” the official said.
After the High Court directed the BBMP to weigh the garbage, there was a proposal to procure at least five or six weighing machines. However, the sources said that BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah rejected the proposal given the civic body’s precarious financial condition.
Mr. Siddaiah told The Hindu that he had issued directions to the officials to use private weighbridges. He said that there were a few unused weighing machines at Mandur. He said that he had directed the officials to shift these machines that had not been commissioned to other landfills in Bingipura and Lakshmipura.