Now, special commissioner to tackle garbage mess

The State government has appointed Darpan Jain as the first Special Commissioner for Solid Waste Management of the BBMP to deal with problems related to garbage disposal projects.

A 2001-batch IAS officer, Jain was transferred from the post of Managing Director, Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development & Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), Bangalore to take charge as the Special Commissioner.

The order said: “The government hereby declares under Rule-9 of IAS (Pay) Rules, 2007 that the post of Special Commissioner (Solid Waste Management), BBMP in the Senior Scale of lAS is equivalent in status and responsibilities to the cadre post of Director of Agriculture Marketing included in the Schedule II-B to the said rules.”

Jain was also asked to continue as KUIDFC MD until further orders.

The appointment of Jain evoked curious response from the BBMP officials. The reason: The Palike already has a joint commissioner (SWM) apart from the zonal level commissioners who are vested with necessary powers to deal with garbage problem in their jurisdiction.

Sources in the Palike said Jain’s role includes fast-tracking proposals pertaining to garbage clearance and construction of waste disposal units.

It has come to light that many garbage disposal-related projects in the pipeline face numerous problems, ranging from land acquisition process, protests near the places where these projects are coming up and breakdown of negotiations.

Sources added that one such project on Mysore Road could not be finalised as the company wanted hundreds of truckloads of debris and garbage dumped there to be cleared first.

Since December 1, 2014 is the deadline to stop dumping of garbage at Mandur landfill, the government seems to have realised that BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana would find it hard to tackle the problem besides dealing with the day-to-day affairs of the Palike.