BENGALURU: Citizens’ group Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) gave away ‘My Place of Pride’ awards on Saturday to gated communities, villas and apartment complexes which followed best practices in waste, water and power management.
Additional Chief Secretary of Urban development department Mahendra Jain was among those present.
At least 106 communities had registered for the awards, which were aimed at ranking and rating the communities in terms of the efforts taken to keep the neighbourhood clean, safe and eco-friendly. The contest was jointly organised by Rotary Bangalore Palmville and BPAC. Apartment complexes contribute 40 per cent of the city’s garbage.
Jain said, “Bengaluru produces 1,400 million litres of waste water. Treatment plants have the capacity to treat half this quantity. Currently, the sewage water is going into Vrishabhavathi river, Challaghatta-Koramangala valley and Varthur-Bellandur lakes. Government will soon take steps to check frothing and encroachment and have wire mesh fences around the lakes to check froth from flying around”.
“Apartments which are more than 2,000 sq metres should have their own sewage treatment plants. There are seven huge composting facilities in the city but there are no takers for refuse-derived fuel,” he said.
Biocon Chairman Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, president of BPAC, said, “BBMP should enter into an MoU with gated communities on what they can do on their own — water, power conservation and sewage management.”