Garbage: ‘black spots’ won’t go

Unseemly but consistent rain over the last two weeks has compounded the problem

The road outside the Passport Office in Koramangala is a veritable shrine to the city’s garbage problem. The stretch has mounds of waste on either side and vehicles driving over them to bypass traffic is a common sight. However, this peculiar shrine, known as ‘black spot’, is not limited to this suburb alone.

Around 8,000 of these ‘black spots’ had been identified towards the end of 2014 by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. It had drawn up a ‘comprehensive plan’ to reduce them by installing two dustbins at each of these spots, one for dry waste and the other for wet waste. A budget had also been set for each ward.

Fast forward to November 2015, and most of these ever present ‘black spots’ also boast of a peculiar smell, thanks to the unseemly but consistent rain over the last two weeks.

And the bins, if ever they were installed, are invisible, say residents.

“I can only see mounds of garbage and no visible dustbins anywhere. The spots are usually outside slums. It is not very likely that BBMP workers will be going inside and educating people there about segregating waste,” says Vijay Menon, a resident and citizen activist in Koramangala.

Many of the ‘black spots’ are usually places from where waste is transferred to bigger vehicles. However, this still fails to explain why the garbage is piling up.

“Anyone putting garbage on the street is liable to be penalised, but unfortunately no one is. According to the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, garbage should not even touch the road/ground. The garbage contractors have to ensure this,” says a waste management expert, on condition of anonymity.

‘Private deals’

The long-standing allegation of the civic body is that contractors usually have private deals to ‘sell’ the dry waste for recycling. “They offload the mixed waste on to the road and allow middle-men to sort through it before taking the wet and dry segregated waste in their lorries. Afterwards, they cannot be bothered to pick up the leftovers,” added the expert, while explaining that the BBMP had facilities to only manage segregated waste.

“We cannot blame the BBMP entirely, but it can deal with the mess, literally. All it takes is strong action,” says N.S. Ramakanth, member of Solid Waste Management Round Table. He suggests that with little investment, a kiosk can be put up at the ‘black spot’, manned by a pourakarmika. “The pourakarmika can segregate the waste there to show people how it is done. At a later date, those found to be dumping mixed waste can be identified and penalised. The BBMP can easily implement this,” he adds.

Until then, however, people living near these ‘black spots’ or passing that stretch will just have to put up with the stink.