Think twice before dumping debris on road, warns BBMP

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to take stern action against people dumping their construction materials and debris (C&D) waste in public spaces, especially roads.

Special Commissioner, BBMP, Randeep D said that it has been decided that the civic body will clean up C&D waste lying on major roads one time and then it will penalise offenders.

Speaking at an interactive session on “The Right to Breathe, Tackling Air Pollution” on Friday, Randeep said that the BBMP will watch the offenders and take stern action against them.

He admitted that despite stringent rules, C&D waste was a major problem. One reason for this is that C&D waste is not listed under solid waste management rules. The special commissioner also admitted that C&D waste was one of the major causes of air pollution in the city.

The session was part of the Bengaluru Solution series, being organised by the Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) and Vidhi, Centre for Legal Policy.

Randeep also pointed that the BBMP was in the process of buying 17 mechanical sweeping machines and hiring another 17 to clear the dust from roads, which is another major source of air pollution. He said that BBMP has set a target of deploying 100 mechanical sweeping machines across the city.

Randeep admitted that there was poor coordination with departments, including Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and transport department, over tackling air pollution, but also called for citizens to partner with the departments to keep a check and reduce air pollution.

Shashank Atreya, Research Fellow at Vidhi, Pawan Mulukutla, Head of City Development, Bosch Mobility Solutions, Anjali Saini, Member at Whitefield Rising, urban planner V Ravichandar and noted Naresh Narasimhan were also present on the occasion.