BENGALURU: With waste segregation at source not being done properly in the city, the dry waste collection centres (DWCCs) at the ward level have proved to be mostly ineffective as they are not getting enough dry waste.
Also, BBMP authorities are not getting space to construct such centres in all places. Of the 198 wards, the Palike has obtained space for about 182 DWCCs.
N S Ramakanth, member of the BBMP Solid Waste Management Expert Committee, said that at present, not even 10 per cent of segregation is happening in Bengaluru. If not segregated, how can one expect to get dry waste at these centres?” he asked.
Further, Ramakanth said though some of the high-value dry waste is being picked up by ragpickers and pourakarmikas, there are no takers for low-value waste, thermocol and other dry waste kept at DWCCs.
“The vendor has to collect all sorts of dry waste. But they look for high-value waste that can fetch them money,” he said.
This has resulted in the DWCCs turning out to be store houses for low-grade dry waste. “At some places, the accumulated dry waste is being transported along with regular waste to landfills,” he added.
Ramakanth also blamed the BBMP for setting up DWCCs at places which he felt were not appropriate.
For instance, he explained, “At a DWCC located in Kumara Park East, there is no approach road. How can we transport waste there?”
At some DWCCs, security is also a concern.
At a DWCC at Vasanthnagar, some weeks ago, a door was broken to steal high-value dry waste stored along with the weighing machine,” a BBMP official said.
“We are also looking for places on rent. People are renting out spaces to ‘kabadiwalas’ who keep dry waste, but they are not ready to rent out space for BBMP for similar purpose,” he said.
“At many places, we have started DWCCs inside parks. People are opposing this as well,” the official said.
‘Need to Streamline Units’
“The DWCCs have been constructed keeping in mind the next five years. We are also setting up processing units which need wet waste. Once these units start functioning, we can demand contractors and pourakarmikas to take only wet waste, which will result in segregation of waste simultaneously,” the official said.
“There is a complaint from the public that though they segregate waste, since there is no provision to process wet waste, both dry and wet waste are carried in the same truck. The DWCCs will get more waste once the processing of wet waste is streamlined. This will take another four months,” he added.