With the right infrastructure and technology, Bangalore can become a “zero garbage” city, where garbage is either composted or recycled, said S. Suresh Kumar, Minister for Law, Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs.
The city should take inspiration from Surat, which was transformed from a plague-hit city into a model of urban sanitation, Mr. Suresh Kumar said at a workshop on municipal solid waste management organised by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board on Wednesday.
Waste to energy
Three waste-to-energy plants that are under various stages of development on the outskirts of the city will together consume the 3,000 tonnes of garbage that the city generates and convert it into power, said Kanwar Pal, Secretary, Department of Environment and Ecology.
More than 50 per cent of all 219 urban local bodies in the State do not have operational scientific landfills, he lamented.
Krishna Palemar, Minister for Ports, Fisheries, Environment and Ecology, said strict action must be taken against chief officials of city municipal council if they are found to violate environmental norms.
ID tags
Environmentalist A.N. Yellappa Reddy said that the Lok Adalat, in association with non-government organisations, will distribute identity cards and uniforms to 5,000 rag pickers by March 2012. “This initiative aims at bringing dignity to rag pickers who are a vital part of waste management in the city,” he told reporters.
The project will also involve getting rag pickers a fair bargain for their material and also provide infrastructure for segregation.
The city has close to 70,000 rag pickers, out of which 25,000 are children. Mr. Reddy said that 1,000 children will be given free education. “We are identifying the individuals who will benefit from the scheme,” he added.
K.M. Shivakumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department and Almitra Patel, activist on the subject of waste management, were present.
