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Citizens urge govt to streamline solid waste management

RWAs stage protest against garbage contract mafia
Last Updated 24 September 2017, 20:22 IST

Resident welfare associations (RWAs), NGOs and members of the public staged a protest against garbage mafia on Sunday demanding the government to streamline solid waste management (SWM) in the city and bring transparency and accountability in the sector.

Voicing their support to the state government’s measures, they demanded that along with the direct payment method and biometric attendance for pourakarmikas, BBMP should fast implement the GPS-based monitoring of the garbage trucks.

The protest comes in the wake of the state government invoking Essential Services Maintenance Act to make garbage contractors fall in line after they stopped waste collection.

Garbage contractors have opposed the government’s decision to make direct payments to pourakarmikas, which will essentially take away their hold on civic workers.
The government has planned biometric attendance system to remove bogus pourakarmikas from the pay list.

Blacklist

“It is high time the government blacklists contractors who are part of the mafia. Lack of monitoring has allowed contractors to show on paper they employed 30 trucks while
deploying only 10, claiming money for 20 trucks that never hit the road,” said N S Ramakanth, a retired engineer and SWM Round Table member who took part in the protest at Town Hall.

Aravind Bhadrinath from Vinayakanagar in Konena Agrahara, off Hosur Road, said only active participation from citizens will put pressure on BBMP to act.

“Residents in several areas are yet to start segregating the waste. The two bin-one bag rule has been forgotten. How can they make the government accountable when they don’t want to play by the rules,” he asked.

A ‘citizen SWM charter’ was released on the occasion demanding recognition of waste pickers, stop dumping of waste in landfills and enforcement of rules, including penalties, for effective waste management.

Aniruddh S Dutt, who started the NGO ‘Let’s Be the Change’, said ‘Cleanathon’ awarness programmes would be held in each ward from October 2.


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(Published 24 September 2017, 20:22 IST)

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