BENGALURU: Despite directives from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), waste continues to pile up everywhere in Bengaluru. The government agencies seem to have no solution to address the garbage problem.
Worried about the garbage menace, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is now asking citizens to manage their waste.
“Citizens must now segregate and process their waste, not just in large apartments or residential complexes, but even in individual homes as there is nothing more we can do,” said Basavaraj Kabade, BBMP Solid Waste Management, chief engineer. According to data, the city generates 6,000 metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily.
Of this, 2500-3000 MT of waste is sent to the landfill at Mitiganahalli. “This is the only landfill in Bengaluru. There are seven waste processing units. But most of them are not working due to technical failures and citizens’ protests,” a senior BBMP official said.The palike hoped that the energy department’s waste-to-energy plant coming up in Bidadi (11.5 MW plant) would address the problem.
‘Palike has no control over contractors’
The energy department has installed a 370-MW liquified natural gas-based power plant in Yelahanka. The two will start supplying power to the grid in the first week of September.
The Bidadi plant will take only segregated dry waste and requires 600 tonnes daily when it is fully functional. “But the plant load will be 75% of the capacity,” the official said. An official from the energy department said, “The two units will not help address the problem of waste as expected. Because the waste generated is much more than the plants can handle. Moreover, there are no plans to expand the plants or start new ones.”
Over the past few years, five legacy waste units have closed down. Also, the BBMP’s old plan of converting landfills into tree parks has shown poor results. Only the landfill at Bagalur has been converted into a tree park. Biomining is on in Mandur landfill. But so far, only five lakh metric tonnes of the accumulated 23 lakh metric tonnes have been removed. The government had also proposed to set up four waste processing units on the city’s outskirts. But nothing has moved forward.
“We are unable to fill the abandoned quarries and use them as parks. We have to do bio-remediation and then do soil capping before making them a park. This will take at least six years. Since work has not started, these abandoned quarries have also become illegal dump sites. It is unfortunate that the designated collection centres in the wards have also become illegal dumping yards now as waste generation is rising. Hence, citizens have to manage their waste as resources and space to manage it are less. We are also unable to impose garbage cess to increase revenue generation,” the official said.
Sandhya Narayan from Solid Waste Management Round Table said it is obvious that BBMP is unable to do anything and nothing is in its control as no new scheme, project, or work orders have been issued in the past two years.
“The BBMP also has no control over its contractors as they are holding the city to ransom. If garbage is piling up in the city, then how is it that the BBMP is making payments to them?” she said.
The BBMP has stopped taking the help of citizens and citizens’ groups. “Participation of citizens is important in garbage management. And if BBMP is not able to do anything then what is Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) doing as a regulatory body?” she said.