BBMP's Gordian knot on reopening wet waste plants

Garbage crisis

A view of BBMP's solid waste processing plant at Subbarayanapalya, Bengaluru on Friday. DH Photo/Pushkar V

A view of BBMP's solid waste processing plant at Subbarayanapalya, Bengaluru on Friday. DH Photo/Pushkar V

The BBMP is facing yet another problem on the waste management front.

Almost three months after it announced a new waste collection system that makes segregation at source mandatory in 38 wards, the amount of wet waste generated across the city has increased considerably. But the BBMP doesn't have the means to process it.

Three of its seven wet waste-processing plants set up at a cost of Rs 450 crore are shut: two of them due to stiff opposition from local residents and another because the matter is in the Supreme Court. As if this wasn't enough, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has threatened penal action if the two plants aren't reopened soon.

In an effort to cut this Gordian knot, the BBMP has sought the intervention of the Urban Development Department. Aware of the gravity of the problem, the government is trying to convince local elected representatives of the need to reopen the plants in Subbarayanapalya, off Mysuru Road, and Seegehalli, KR Puram. The matter over the Lingadheeranahalli is pending in the apex court.

More than a month ago, the KSPCB issued a notice to the BBMP, asking why it was not running the Subbarayanapalya and Seegehalli plants.

The board warned the BBMP that keeping the plants shut would result in the "dumping of excess waste on black spots and other public places without processing and disposal, which is a violation under SWM Rules". It even threatened penal action. "This would be a violation of the duties under Rule 15 of the SWM Rules of 2016, and attracts penal action under section 15 read with section 19 of the Environment Protection Act of 1986," the KSPCB notice reads. The board gave the BBMP seven days to comply with its order.

Unable to bear the stench of the waste, locals had barged into the Subbarayanapalya plant last year and set it afire. The Seegehalli plant was shut reportedly on oral instructions from the chief minister's office since it's located close to a school run by a political and cultural organisation.

The Subbarayanapalya plant has an installed capacity to process 150 metric tonnes of wet waste into usable compostper day, the Seegehalli unit can process 120 metric tonnes.

The BBMP is waiting for government permission to reopen the plants.

D Randeep, Special Commissioner, BBMP (Solid Waste Management), said the plants were in a "state of readinesss" as pending repairs were completed but government permission was required to resume operations.

The government has its own worries.

A top official in the government, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "Restarting the plants is a sensitive issue. We are trying to convince political leaders from the areas (where the plants are located)," the official said. "We cannot afford to forego the investment made on setting up these plants."

In exchange for cooperation in restoring the plants, the government is assuring additional funds to improve the infrastructure in these areas. The official hoped the government would take a decision "very soon".