No time to waste, residents thrash out solution to trash woes

Aiming to make HSR Layout free of garbage and ensure 100 per cent segregation of waste there, a community of 70 residents conducted a workshop here on Sunday.

HaSiRu Mithra joined hands with another group Maitri Mahila Koota to educate the 200-member audience on methods to segregate and compost waste. The workshop lasted for four hours.

“We have four kinds of groups in our locality. Apartment dwellers segregate the wast but there is no garbage collection in other areas. The third category — commercial establishments — dumps garbage on roadside drains. Less than 30 per cent of individual households are aware of segregation rules. Proper segregation, prompt collection, systematic transport and scientific processing of waste is the need of the hour,” said Kavitha Reddy, a co-founder of HaSiRu Mithra.

Lalithamba V, another member, said that segregation not only reduces cost and pollution and results in fewer landfills, but also increases recycling, composting, resource recovery and sustainability. She said the workshop was first-of-its-kind.

Twenty such events have been planned at apartments, educational institutions and parks. The team said the workshop was just a part of its campaign to make HSR Layout cleaner.

“We are working with the BBMP on waste management. Our long-term aim is to identify garbage-collection routes and track the collection of waste.

“We will also get feedback from municipal workers (pourakarmikas) and residents and discuss their problems. In future, we plan to honour municipal workers based on their service. Through these steps, we hope to solve the garbage problem in our locality to some extent,” HaSiRu Mithra said.