BENGALURU: Thousands of apartments and corporate offices in the city received notices this week regarding garbage cess from the Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) carved out of the BBMP three years ago, to individually handle waste.
It has levied a fee to be paid with retrospective effect from April 1. BSWML has also sought details from the owners within 7 days about the total waste generated and the manner in which they were disposed.
TNIE was given access to a copy of the notice, which specified two different kinds of fee to be paid -- Rs 3 per kg if the apartment has adopted in-situ processing and Rs 12 per kg if the in-situ disposal of waste has not been adopted within its premises. The notice has also mandated the submission of notarised affidavits in case no disposal is done in-house. Those doing in-house processing have been asked to submit annual returns for the fiscal 2023-2024.
The notice also stated that it was being issued under section 285 of the BBMP Act 2020, BBMP Stormwater Management bylaws 2020 and under rule 15 (f) of the SWM Rules 2016.
Meanwhile, apartment representatives were aghast over the tone and content of the notice received. Shobha Raghuram, CEO of Saahas Zero Waste, which is a service provider for multiple corporate firms and Tech companies told TNIE, “The communication received by our clients is equivalent to a legal notice. We have been busy filing responses on behalf of all the firms this week on the manner in which they dispose off the waste generated,” she said.
Kiran Kumar, an apartment owner at Rajarajeshwari Nagar said, “All the apartments in ward no. 198 have received this notice. Only those having Organic Waste Composters (which convert waste into manure) within their premises will pay Rs 3 while the rest have to pay Rs 12.
They have given us a list of responses to be filed and they will soon be invoicing the Resident Welfare Associations based on the responses we send.” He added that for a few days, those working for BSWML began collecting garbage in their area in September and were erratic. “We asked them to stop and urged the empanelled vendors of BBMP who were taking care of it earlier to continue doing so?”
Abdul Aleem, president of Changemakers of Kanakapura, which has nearly 100 RWAs under its fold said, “We already pay a garbage cess with the annual property tax. We have also been paying the BBMP empanelled vendors for garbage collection?”
The notice said the fee has to be paid to the bank of BBMP or at any PoS (Point of Sale). It also warned of penalties in accordance with the SWM bylaws 2020 and action to be initiated to recover environmental compensation.