BBMP’s new garbage norm raises stink

By Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s decision to engage the same vehicle to collect dry and wet waste during door-to-door collection in the city has angered environmentalists and activists.

Till recently, the BBMP used to engage separate vehicles to collect dry waste and wet waste. This method was introduced in 2020 after a pilot project was implemented in one of the wards in the city.

Now, the BBMP wants to allow garbage contractors to use the same vehicle to collect dry and wet waste and garbage collection vehicles should have two compartments – one for dry waste and the other for west waste.

Many environmentalists and activists are up in arms against BBMP allowing garbage contractors to use the same vehicle to collect wet and dry waste. They opine that most of the autotippers being used to collect garbage from door-to-door do not have two compartments and purchasing new vehicles would be a burden on the contractors.

“Using same vehicle to collect dry and wet waste will affect segregation of waste at source. The moment residents notice pourakarmika mixing wet and dry waste on the auto tipper, they too try to handover mixed waste to the pourakarmikas. It leads to more volume of mixed waste. I think that the more volume of waste, the BBMP has to spend more money. I want the BBMP to hire separate vehicles to collect wet and dry waste,” said Odette Katrak, co-founder of Beautiful Bengaluru.

A chief executive officer of an NGO, on a condition of anonymity, has said that it would be difficult to use the same vehicle to collect dry and wet waste. “I do not know why the BBMP authorities keep changing policies. Their decisions need consistency,’’ she said.

Nalini Shekar, co-founder of Hasiru Dala, has said the BBMP has been attempting this method without having a pilot project. Nalini Shekar opines that the quantity of dry waste reaching dry waste collection centres would be decreased drastically. “We are maintaining dry waste collection centres at around 40 wards. Some of the waste pickers have already bought vehicles,” said Nalini Sekhar.

She said the BBMP wants garbage contractors to purchase new vehicles – four wheelers and the contract with garbage contractors to be extended to five years as against the existing term – one year. “Four-wheelers are not a viable option to collect garbage from door-to-door at many localities in Bengaluru. Our workers collect dry waste by hand at some localities as most of the cross roads are narrow,” she said.

However, N.S. Ramakanth, a solid waste management expert, has said the BBMP’s plan to use the same vehicle to collect dry as well as wet waste has disadvantages and advantages. “The advantages are that it will avoid sending separate vehicles to collect dry waste.

It will also avoid residents waiting three to four days to handover dry waste to pourakarmikas. I want auto tippers to have facilities to collect dry and wet waste. The disadvantage is four-wheelers will not be able to enter cross roads,” said Ramakanth.

Meanwhile, BBMP Garbage Contractors’ Association president S.N. Balasubramanian has said that contractors need to purchase more than 10,000 new CNG or electric vehicles to collect garbage and transport it to landfills or waste management units.