BENGALURU: For the first time, Bengaluru got a better rank in the ‘Swachh Survekshan’ report which was released on Wednesday. The city scored 194th rank as against 215th last year.
Bengaluru, once known as a Garden City, got the tag Garbage city after the garbage crisis in 2012, when Mavallipura landfill was shut down after locals staged protests.
Following this, with the intervention of the High Court, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) started to look for a more scientific approach towards garbage disposal. They replaced the landfill system with processing units, and brought many changes in law like banning plastic, waste segregation at source, etc. However, enforcing them still posed a challenge.
In Karnataka, Bengaluru scored 8th rank out of 26 cities in 2018. This year, it scored the third rank out of 26 cities.Speaking to TNIE, D Randeep, BBMP Special Commissioner for Solid Waste Management, said: “There has been a marginal improvement in waste management. However, Bengaluru is not in par with other cities which scored well. There has been certain loopholes from our side too, like in certain places, garbage vehicles would not go to collect waste. Now, BBMP has called for tenders where the bidder has to install GPS and RFID tracking system in all his garbage vehicles. Based on the tracking system, payment will be done. This will ensure vehicles will go collect waste on time.”
Randeep said the timings of waste collection by pourakarmikas also added to waste disposal woes as some people left home early for work. “Some people leave home at 6 am, while pourakarmikas come between 7 am to 10 am. In this process, people throw waste on the road and create black spots,’’ he said.BBMP authorities will be seriously assessing the marks and try to improve in those areas where they have lost points, he added.