BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) authorities who have been constantly pestered by the High Court to clean up its act on the garbage front, has found something to cheer about this Deepavali, mainly due to directions from the Supreme Court. This Deepavali, the restrictions on burning crackers has resulted in bringing down the total amount of cracker waste generated.
Moreover, this year there was no need to hire additional men and machinery to clear waste, something which had to be done almost every year. “This time, cracker waste has come down at least by 40-50 per cent, going by what we saw on day one of Deepavali. Till last year, many times at residential localities, our pourakarmikas used to sweep the roads road twice a day. But this time, the waste was like that of normal days. We did not need additional men and machinery to clear the festive waste,” senior BBMP officials said.
The city, which generates 4,500-5,000 metric tonnes of waste daily on an average, generates an unestimated additional waste during festivals. During Deepavali, along with the regular festive waste, it also generates harmful waste like the waste from crackers, consisting of gunpowder and chemicals.
D Randeep, BBMP Additional Commissioner (Solid Waste Management), said: “At some places, crackers were burst on open grounds as people celebrated community Deepavali. We normally faced challenges to clear waste generated due to roadside bursting of crackers, but this year it has come down. We hope that in the next two-three three days, we will have the same scenario.
However, even with the amount of reduced cracker waste, it is not disposed off scientifically. “There is no provision of treating cracker waste separately. It is collected with regular dry waste like previous years,’’ said Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun.