Q&A: Fire in quarry spread as garbage was mixed, says Gangambike Mallikarjun

What is the reason behind the fire at the Bellahalli quarry and when is it likely to be put out ?
The fire began due to some quarrying at the site and spread as the garbage was mixed. But since then we have managed to control it.

When will the garbage that has accumulated in the city be cleared ?
We had stopped dumping the garbage at the quarry temporarily due to the fire. But as it has come under control now, the dumping has resumed. As the garbage was not collected for the past two or three days, it will take a while for all the accumulated rubbish to be cleared. I have requested our officials to work 24 x 7 to clear it.

Why is garbage being dumped in the quarry, polluting the environment, when the BBMP has set up waste processing plants at a cost of crores to treat it?
Just 30 per cent of waste that is segregated is going to the plants. The rest, which is mixed, ends up in the quarry.

How long can this dumping of mixed waste at the quarry continue ?
We had called for tenders to collect wet and dry waste separately,but could not proceed further as the election code of conduct kicked in. Once the elections are held we will finalise things in a matter of 15 days and collect the wet and dry waste separately. Then there will be no need to dump the mixed waste into pits as we will be able to send the segregated garbage to the processing plants.