BENGALURU: With indiscriminate littering of the city during marathons, one of the members of an expert committee on Solid Waste Management (SWM) has sought certain regulations, including taking prior permission from the BBMP and clearing the waste, to put the litterbugs under control.
Ahead of the TCS World 10K Marathon scheduled for May 17, Mr N.S. Ramakanth, a member of the expert committee on SWM constituted by the High Court, wants to ensure that the city’s roads are free of garbage when over 20,000 marathoners, including international athletes, pound the city streets.
It is common to see mountains of used tissue papers, plastic tumblers and plates after the marathon gets over. The organisers leave it to the BBMP workers to clear the garbage. “But it should not repeat,” said Mr Ramakanth.
While the lax BBMP authorities are not bothered about cleanliness during such mega events, Mr Ramakanth volunteered to hold a meeting with event organisers on Wednesday and took an undertaking from them to avoid littering.
Mr Dilip Jayaram, CEO, Procam International – which has organised the event, offered to train his housekeeping staff on the on dos and dont’s of managing litter. “We have agreed to leave no waste behind and the garbage collected will be sent for recycling,” said Mr Ramakanth.
“Swacch Bharat and the Municipal Solid Waste (Handling) Management Rules of 2015 want mega event organisers to make an advance deposit with the local municipal body while taking permission. After the event, the money spent for clearing the garbage is deducted from the deposit and the remainder is returned to the organisers,” he said.
The event organizers have agreed to serve snacks and drinks in steel utensils at their food counters to avoid littering. Volunteers working along with the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) will pitch in to help. Besides, a supervisor on a motorcycle will monitor the clearing of waste, said Mr Ramakanth.
