BENGALURU: While most parts of Bengaluru are struggling to tackle the garbage menace, residents of Kormangala’s ward no. 151 are sustaining themselves well. The garbage that is managed by the residents, is used by restaurants in the form of fuel. Now, the same solid waste management (SWM) model is set to be replicated in Yelahanka.
The members of the Koramangala Climate Action Project (KCLAP), together with the Residents Welfare Association (RWAs) and experts, held a meeting with the officials of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from Yelahanka Zone to discuss the issue. The officials and RWAs of Yelahanka inspected the anaerobic biogas plant where five to six tonnes of segregated waste is converted to gas.
Padmashree Balaram, founder of KCLAP, said that the teams inspected the plant, which is built on two acres of land and is currently handling 40 tonnes of waste per week. “Setting up a unit with a capacity of less than five tonnes is not difficult. It does not need clearance from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), but sustaining it and ensuring that there is a continuous supply of segregated waste is important,” she said and added that they are paying around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 for electricity and the gas generated is 20 per cent cheaper than LPG.
Balaram further said that they are now working on replacing the fuel in auto tippers from bio-CNG to the biogas generated from the waste processing units. She also said that the plan is to add more restaurants, apartment complexes, residential societies and community kitchen services in the SWM model.
Ashok D R, Joint Commissioner, BBMP Yelahanka Zone, said, “Now, final approvals are awaited with budgetary clearance to replicate the same working model in Yelahanka.”