2 apartments fined Rs 5.5L for not composting waste

The civic authorities on Friday imposed heavy fines on two apartments for failing to compost solid waste.

In a move aimed at sending a warning to other apartments, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike slapped a fine of Rs 1.70 lakh on Sterling Apartments located in the Radhakrishna Temple ward and Rs 3.75 lakh on Raheja Pebble Bay, RMV 2nd Stage, for failing to take up in-situ composting.

In-situ composting is a system where green waste materials are laid out on top of the ground to decompose back into the soil’s surface.

The civic body said residents had complained that bulk waste generators supposed to take up in-situ composting were instead handing it over to garbage auto tippers or just dumping it on public places. At least 500 apartments are guilty of violating the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, officials said, adding that the crackdown would continue over the next few months.

Belated raids

B K Vijendra, Chief Health Officer (Public Health), BBMP, said the apartments should have been fined much earlier but various reasons delayed it. According to him, health officials from all eight zones of the BBMP have been instructed to raid and penalise apartments that have
failed to take up in-situ composting.

BBMP Commissioner
B H Anil Kumar said
SWM Rules, 2016, stipulated that apartments with more than 50 units compost their waste. “But many are not following it. We’ll carry out similar drives across the city,” he told DH.