BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru in-charge minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday summoned top civic officials and held a three-hour meeting, where he sought details about the solid waste management structure in Bengaluru.
It may be recalled that Shivakumar had recently said his priorities for Bengaluru include traffic, garbage management and streamlining the administration. According to a senior official, he checked a model representing the new method of collection and transportation.
“The minister sought details on sweeping, collecting and transporting garbage, cost and other details. A discussion was also held regarding the tender process of 89 packages on solid waste management. He sought details on segregation of waste at source, and waste-to-energy concept. In some tenders, the clause includes separate bins attached to the compactor that is fitted with medical waste, dry and wet. The minister also asked for details on that,” the official said.
The minister suggested visiting places like Indore, Singapore and cities in Tamil Nadu to study the best practices adopted in garbage management, and replicate it in Bengaluru, if it works. “The minister, after coming to know that out of six waste processing plants, three are not functioning, asked officials to arrange for an inspection,” the official said.
Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, Rakesh Singh, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath, BBMP Special Commissioner for Solid Waste Management Harish Kumar, Chief Engineer (Storm Water Drain) Basavaraj Kabade, Chief Engineer, Solid Waste Management, Praveen Lingaiah were present at the meeting.
18.9mm rainfall in city, 2-wk shower spell for K’taka
Bengaluru: India Meteorological Department officials predicted rainfall in most parts of Karnataka for the next two weeks. Bengaluru Tuesday experienced rainfall from around 6am. Many parts of the city had already witnessed rainfall Monday night. IMD said the city recorded 18.9mm rainfall, HAL 4.2 mm and KIA 16.6mm till 5.30 pm Tuesday. Videos and pictures of flooded streets made the rounds on social media. Civic officials had to divert water into manholes on Richmond Road.
Nirmala says no to spl grants for PRR
Bengaluru: Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi Tuesday. During the 20-minute meeting, the ministers discussed decongesting Bengaluru, towards which the Peripheral Ring Road would be helpful. Gowda asked Sitharaman if special grants could be used for the Peripheral Ring Road project, and pointed out the Financial Commission recommendation that Rs 6,000 crore could be given. Sitharaman told him that the special grants cannot be made available for the project. However, she said that other ways would be explored instead of special grants. Gowda is the state government’s representative on the GST Council. He will be regularly interacting with Sitharaman regarding GST.