BENGALURU: Just like in Bengaluru and other major cities in Karnataka, garbage collection at villages too will soon follow a door-to-door system. The Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR)
department is now implementing the same at the panchayat level. There are 6,024 gram panchayats across 30 districts in the state. At present, villages in Karnataka do not have scientific method of garbage disposal.
While some dump waste outside their village, others throw it by the roadside, and some even use it in their farms. Now, the department is keen on tackling the garbage menace in villages in a big way. The cabinet approved the Karnataka Panchayat Raj (Sanitation & Liquid Waste Management) Model Bye-laws, 2019, which has been circulated to all GPs.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, principal secretary to RDPR, L K Ateeq, said that in the first phase, they have chosen 780 panchayats to implement a scientific garbage disposal system. “Garbage collection in these areas will follow a door-to-door model, similar to in cities. However, it cannot be all seven days like Bengaluru, so we’re making it a thrice a week activity,’’ Ateeq said. Dry waste will also be collected once a week.
The panchayats must set up Dry Waste collection Centres (DWCC) in its limits. “A sum of Rs 20 lakh will be given to each panchayat, which has to buy auto tippers and also make provision for waste processing units,’’ Ateeq added.RDPR sources said each panchayat has many villages in its limits, so just one auto tipper can’t visit them all.
“There is also a lack of manpower and materials, but we have to manage with these limited resources. Another major challenge is to implement waste segregation at the source. In cities like Bengaluru, with so much awareness, segregation at source is still not happening.
In villages though, there was a time when people would turn their waste into natural fertilizer for their gardens. But now, the plastic menace has crept into villages too, so it will take a few years for the move to become a reality,’’ official sources said on condition of anonymity. “Also, if this is implemented fully, additional charges may be collected from villagers in the form of garbage cess,’’ sources added.
A sum of Rs 20 lakh will be given to each panchayat, which has to buy auto tippers and also make provision for waste processing units
— LK Ateeq, principal secretary to RDPR