Experts welcomed Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar’s plans to set up Solid Waste Management Authority (SWMA) to deal with the garbage crisis in the city.
Kalpana Kar, solid waste management expert told Express that garbage management needs a separate authority with dedicated policy. At present the BBMP has too many things to deal with. We need a long term solution.
“By encouraging more solution providers to manage waste, there will be competition. This will be a good sign,” she said.
“Karnataka State Pollution Control Board is a regulatory body that is responsible for Rain Water Harvesting, Sewage Treatment Plant and other initiatives. Similarly, we need an authority who will frame polices on garbage management,” she said.
N S Ramakanth, another Solid waste management expert also welcomed the proposal. “It is in the initial stage. The Authority can help the commissioner in formulating and implementing policies to deal with waste management. The authority might have five members including Commissioner, KSPCB official, two solid waste management experts and one from Urban Development department,” he said.
Ravichander, expert on urban affairs said, “When JnNurm was implemented, one of the conditions was to have a civic regulatory body. Now to begin with, we can have regulatory body for waste management and in the coming days, we can extend the service by including water and other services,” he said. “If we have a regulatory body for waste management, number of PILs will come down at High court in this regard,” he added.