Smelly roads laden with piles of garbage on the perimeter — this not a new sight in Bengaluru and newly sworn-in Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa seems to have woken up to the reality. On Sunday, Chief Minister Yediyurappa rapped the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner for allowing garbage to pile up on the sides of the roads.
Speaking to TNM, BBMP Mayor Gangambike said that CM Yediyurappa has given the BBMP three days to clean up the garbage.
“The Chief Minister met with Commissioner Manjunath Prasad and asked him to take necessary action to remove the garbage on the streets. He informed the Chief Minister that tenders are being sorted out to dump the garbage from roads into two different landfills. There is a plot of land next to the Bellahalli landfill and the owner of the land has allowed BBMP to dump the garbage there until further arrangements can be made,” Mayor Gangambike said.
BBMP figures say that 45% of the waste generated in Bengaluru is mixed and not segregated at the source, Mayor Gangambike says, while adding that the mixed waste either ends up in Bellahalli landfill or strewn along the sides of the roads.
“About 400 tonnes of wet waste per day is going to the compost units. As per NGT orders, the garbage collectors end up dumping unsegregated waste that residents give them into auto tippers, which dump them on roadsides or at the landfills. In order to clean up the garbage being piled up on the roads, we are going to transport them to the plot near Bellahalli until it can be shifted to Mitaganahalli and Marenahalli landfills,” the Mayor said.
However, NGT norms state that mixed waste must not be dumped in landfills and BBMP’s tenders. Disregarding the NGT order, the BBMP has called for tenders to dump mixed waste into the Mitaganahalli and Marenahalli landfills at the cost of Rs 64 crore and Rs 120 crore respectively.
“The tender documents are currently being vetted by the health committee. The Joint Commissioner of health has okayed the plot for dumping the waste temporarily until the two other landfills can be opened. We are currently facing opposition from residents of Mitaganahalli, who do not want the landfill to be open. The Health Committee is looking into those complaints,” she added.