With the beginning of Ramzan on Sunday, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has taken up a drive for segregation of waste at mosques through the month.
Health inspectors have been assigned a mosque beat every evening till the end of the festival. “They will visit each mosque, besides neighbourhood food stalls and markets, to ensure segregation of waste and minimise the use of plastic,” Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, SWM, BBMP, said.
The civic body has been in talks with mosques in the city for better management of distribution of fruits and porridge to break the fast. Shopkeepers and those manning the food stalls in Shivajinagar and Mosque Road have been asked to install two bins, Mr. Khan said.
A group of solid waste management activists in Shivajinagar are giving out a pair of bins, of 750 kg capacity each, to 52 mosques in and around the locality to help segregation at source.
“We found there are 64 mosques in and around Shivajinagar, including Vasnathnagar, Jayamahal and Bharathinagar. Of them, 12 have mechanisms to segregate waste. So, we are helping the other 52 mosques with bins,” said Sufiyan Abu, who leads a team of volunteers undertaking the community initiative. They have also put together a team of volunteers who will go around the mosques and oversee segregation during break of fast.
Each of these mosques, Mr. Abu said, receives a minimum of 300 people every day. These mosques are considered bulk generators and have individual contractors who handle waste. However, till date, no mechanism for segregation has been implemented.
For the first time, the civic body will use two mechanical sweepers, with a capacity to clean 50 km at a stretch, around mosques and food stalls through the night, said Mr. Khan. “There is no night-time cleaning in the city, except in a few markets in the Pete area. That practice will be extended to all areas where food stalls come up during the festival, and mechanical sweepers will be used,” he said.
