Foreign companies propose solutions to City's problems

As many as six companies from various countries have approached the State government to initiate various waste-to-energy projects in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, who met representatives of these companies in the City on Friday, said though the government was flooded with such projects, and providing land for all of them would be difficult.

Speaking to the media, he said that delegations from the British High Commission, and representatives from companies in Japan and Poland have met him and proposed several innovative solutions.

The Deputy-Commissioner-led British High Commission delegation also proposed traffic management solutions. The Transport Research Laboratory team in London will meet the City traffic police officials for further discussions, he said. The delegation has also mooted reuse of edible oil as fuel.

Mixed waste to energy
A Japanese company from Yokohama has proposed the setting up of a 100-tonne plant to process mixed waste into energy. Ecolog, a Polish company, has come forward to treat sludge in lakes like Bellandur and Varthur.

When contacted, Additional Commissioner of Police M A Saleem said that recently, a delegation led by the Consul General of Australia had visited the Bengaluru traffic management centre and offered to coordinate with his department to provide solutions to traffic congestion.

He said that the meeting with the London team would be scheduled shortly, and issues pertaining to road safety would be discussed. When George was informed about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s supposed question to an auto driver in the City recently, the minister said he didn’t have a good opinion about Delhi’s roads.

“I have seen the condition of Delhi roads, and how traffic jams occur there on a daily basis. One can even run a Google search on the road condition in that city,” he said.
According to media reports, Kejriwal had wondered why Bengaluru roads were in a bad condition.