Opposition members raised a stink about garbage bins installed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) at a 100 black spots across the city, at the council meeting on Wednesday.
The BBMP has installed these semi-automated, semi-buried bins for wet and dry waste on a pilot basis. The former Mayors B.S. Sathyanarayana and N. Shanthakumari took the officials of the Solid Waste Management Department to task and said all earlier attempts to make Bengaluru a “garbage bin-free city” had come to a nought, and claimed that the bins had now become black spots themselves.
Govindarajanagar councillor Umesh Shetty sought to know who permitted the installation of these bins at a cost of ₹53 crore. Alleging that the council was kept in the dark over the issue, he charged that officials were taking unilateral decisions, without following protocol. He sought to know the status of the bins installed across the city at ₹2 crore when G. Padmavathi was the Mayor.
Responding to the questions, BBMP’s Joint Commissioner (SWM and Health) Sarfaraz Khan said bins were mandatory as per Swachh Bharat guidelines and SWM Rules, 2016. “The bins were first proposed by the State government, following which a proposal was sent to the Standing Committee for Health. After approval from the committee and council, e-tenders were floated. We have installed 100 bins so far; the High Court of Karnataka has directed the BBMP to install 100 more in the city,” he said, and added that the civic body had yet to pay the German firm. “Funds have been earmarked under the Nagarottana Scheme. Each bin costs around ₹5.5 lakh, plus maintenance for five years,” he said.
Mayor R. Sampath Raj directed the Commissioner to instruct the Technical Vigilance Cell under the Commissioner to conduct an audit on the status and condition of the old bins installed across the city. The TVCC, he said, should submit its report within 15 days.
Councillors demand apology
Several councillors, including Opposition Leader Padmanabha Reddy, on Wednesday demanded an apology from Mr. Khan. They claimed that the official had “insulted” the council by walking out without responding to their questions, they demanded that the official tender an unconditional apology.
Mr. Raj defended the official and said he had sought permission from him to step out of the council hall to freshen up.
