BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) is pinning its hopes on a slew of measures it has taken to improve the Swachh Survekshan ranking this year, as the Silicon City ended up as the fifth dirtiest city in the survey conducted last year.
Ensuring that the majority of the Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCC) are functioning, redressing garbage-related complaints filed by citizens within 48 hours, mapping of main roads and clearly dividing them among pourakarmikas, blackspot identification and clearance, penalising erring contractors are some of the measures taken to improve the rankings and keep the city clean, said BSWML officials.
Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Marshal Colonel (retired) Rajbhir Singh said, “There are 110 DWCCs across the city. Last year, for multiple reasons including non-performance of the centres and non-allotment of tenders to operate them, the majority of them were not functional. This year, 74 of the total 110 are working.”
Further, the Swachh Survekshan carries more weightage to citizens’ grievance redressal and through the Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC), BSWML receives around 150 calls related to solid waste, Singh said. “We resolve 90% of the complaints within 48 hours. The complaints that are not resolved in this window are escalated to the next level of officials,” he said.
Each pourakarmika is given a dedicated stretch to sweep and keep it clean. They will be monitored by junior health inspectors and marshals. If a particular stretch isn’t swept, all the three – the pourakarmika, JHI and marshals – are pulled up, he said.
In addition, there is special focus on clearing blackspots and ensuring that they do not reappear. “Despite all the efforts, there are areas where the garbage collection isn’t effectively done by the contractors, forcing residents to dump it along roadsides in slum pockets and other areas. In such areas, the contractors are penalised and the blackspots are cleared before 8.30 am,” he said.
BSWML officials admitted absence of documentation of work for the Swachh Survekshan survey. “We have to showcase the works done for the cleanliness of the city, for the welfare of the pourakarmikas and others. This year, we have ensured that the documentation is done effectively to prove the work done,” said an official.
BSWML CEO Karee Gowda said cities are awarded ratings from one to seven stars based on their compliance with solid waste management, which includes waste collection, segregation, scientific processing, visible cleanliness etc. “Last year, Bengaluru received 3-star ratings. This year, we are expecting 5-star ratings and expect good ranking,” Gowda said.
