Though Bangalore prides itself as the IT city, neither the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) nor the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) have any solutions to manage the residential e-waste.
So much so that neither of the departments have been able to come up with a mechanism to even measure the amount of residential e-waste generated in the city.
After the BBMP launched the waste management campaign on October 1 last year, the rules specified the disposal of e-waste separately once a month. However, apart from voluntary initiatives to collect e-waste, there is no other mechanism to tackle this problem.
“Currently there is no method to gauge, collect or manage residential e-waste. There is no plan right now to deal with this problem either. E-waste is now being disposed of with dry and wet waste which might cause problems,” said KSPCB chairman Vaman Acharya.
The Palike has no department specifically working for e-waste. “The Palike currently does not look into e-waste generated from residential areas,” said Chief Health Officer of BBMP Devaki Umesh.
The KSPCB had entered into liaison with 21 organisations and NGOs that look into industrial e-waste.
“From residential areas, e-waste is now being disposed off with either wet or dry waste. Regardless of the way in which this waste is collected and managed, the e-waste present will harm the environment while decomposing or burning,” said Senior Environment Officer of KSPCB D R Kumaraswamy.