Bengaluru trashed: Garbage goes untreated

Bengaluru: The BBMP spends between Rs 800 crore  and Rs900 crore on treating the garbage generated in the city, but for the past nine months many of its  processing plants have been shut, forcing the civic agency to dump the waste in abandoned quarries.

 Noting that Bengaluru produces around 4,000 tonnes of waste daily, a civic group, Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT), also blames delay in clearing major projects by the state government for  the waste going untreated in the city. “The problem is aggravated if big projects like the bio-methnanization plant and setting up of organic waste converters for composting are stalled,” it says.

Spokesperson of SWMRT, Ms Sandya Narayan notes that although every ward was to be provided leaf shredders and talks had begun on the project when Mr Siddaiah was Commissioner of the BBMP, the project is still awaiting the government’s approval. 

“Usually dry leaves are burnt in an alley, harming the environment. Leaf shredders, which roughly cost Rs 1.5 lakh, can instead convert the organic waste into manure, helping the BBMP save money on transportation of waste,” she reasons, adding, “Not only unregulated, even regulated dumping by the BBMP is unacceptable. We want the BBMP to start processing.”

But ask BBMP  joint commissioner, Sarfaraz Khan, and he claims that all projects have been cleared by the state government and  five of the 10 waste processing plants have begun working. 

“As far as leaf shredders are concerned, we have called for  tenders,” he adds.

As for the huge arrears in the salary of pourakarmikas , he admit there has been a delay in releasing their wages owing to  the hike of 40 to 45 per cent in their  salaries. “But we are releasing funds to address the issue,” he assures.