BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to bring back bins for disposal of garbage and will install 2,232 pairs across the city at a cost of over Rs 4 crore.
The bins will be set up in pairs within two weeks in keeping with the policy of segregation, with one bin meant for dry waste and the other for wet waste. The bin system was stopped 17 years ago in 2000. The inauguration function was held on Monday morning near National Market.
Bengaluru Development Minister K J George said, “Earlier there used to be bins in the city, but after door-to-door collection of garbage began, they were removed. Bengaluru thus became a dustbin-free city. However, as our pourakarmikas sweep the streets from 6am to 10pm and then do other work, we decided to bring back bins to keep clean areas with high population density.”
George also urged citizens to make proper use of the bins, a point that was reiterated by Mayor G Padmavathi. She said each bin has a capacity of 200 litres and were financed by a grant from the Chief Minister’s Nagarothana scheme. The bins would be placed at commercial areas, major roads and slums. She added, “The project will be a success only if pourakarmikas and our officials work properly.” BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said Rs 415.66 lakh had been sanctioned by the CM for the move.
However, the state government’s expert committee member, solid waste management N S Ramakanth stressed that the bins would be functional only if they were manned by people, and said the bins used before 2000 faced the same issue. “The problem is since people have to pay the vendor to take the garbage away, they start dumping in these bins, and the bins will then overflow. If the government is investing so much, they should also invest to hire people to man the bins.
The bins would overflow and attract dogs and pigs. Even keeping them at slums is a bad idea as contractors won’t go there to collect the garbage,” said Ramakanth. He said such drives were done in many cities in the country, and was only done for ‘visible cleanliness’.