BENGALURU: The ever growing garbage menace in the city has a citizen actively taking up the battle as the corporation passes the buck and struggles for funds.
Vani Murthy, Member of the Malleshwaram Residents' Association, who has been tackling the issue, addressed the lack of discipline at a talk organised by the Institute of Engineers.
Emphasising the need to be self relaint, when it comes to disposal, she said, "We as citizens must not allow the garbage to be dumped in landfills.The leachate seeps into the ground and pollutes the groundwater. After visiting Mavallipura and the Mandur landfills. where a majority of waste goes, we witnessed that those living in the vicinity of these places suffer a lot. Where we send the garbage that is generated in our houses is in our hands," she said.
Murthy further thought about the entire process of managing waste at home after visiting the Vellore Medical College (Vellore, Tamil Nadu) and the landfills around the city.
"At the College, no waste is left untreated. Though many believe that there is no use for waste generated, this is a false notion. This is where the process of composting comes in. We, in our own homes, can actually use the waste generated to produce compost. It has been estimated that 60 per cent of our waste is organic, i.e., consisting of vegetable peels, tea and coffee powder and others, which are pivotal in helping produce compost," added Murthy.
So, what does Murthy propose? "It has been estimated that the city produces 4000 tons of garbage everyday, and this figure may have increased. How can one expect the BBMP to handle this much, when we can't manage half a kilogram of waste at home? It does not make sense at all. Firstly, we have to say no to disposables. The recent Chennai floods have shown that disaster can strike any city. If one analyses the root cause of the floods, they were due to drains being blocked with garbage. This is where composting helps," she says.
She spoke about the contractor-corporator nexus and the mafia , "One says that the disposal of garbage attracts most of the funds released for waste management by the government. However, this is just an eye-wash. Around 60-70 per cent of the cost goes towards garbage transportation, and this is where the mafia comes in. They get paid on the basis of how much garbage they take to landfills, They don't segregate waste for money."