Complaint redressal key to success of new waste collection system

Complaint redressal is key to the project’s success as non-collection of waste on a daily basis is a common complaint

From replacing old vehicles and collecting waste from commercial areas twice a day to covering buildings that produce up to 100 kg of waste a day, the Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Company (BSWMC) has proposed several new initiatives to reboot the city’s door-to-door waste collection system. It is, however, the complaint redressal mechanism that will remain the key challenge for the project’s success as non-collection of waste on a daily basis is the common complaint of many residents.

Last week, the newly-established BSWMC floated tenders for the door-to-door collection and transportation (C&T) of waste across 243 wards by splitting the contract into 89 packages. As per the company’s initial estimates, the project will cover 42 lakh households and commercial entities and is expected to cost Rs 590 crore per annum. This roughly translates to Rs 20 lakh per month per ward.

Contractors, who have two years of experience, are eligible to take part in the BSWMC tender. This means a majority of the wards in the city are likely to have the same set of contractors who are engaged by the BBMP. This time, the BSWMC has, however, decided to engage a single agency for the collection of all types of waste in every two to three wards. And the contract period has been extended to five years.

Construction debris left out

A part of the contract also mandates that the contractor transports 100% of the dry waste to the dry waste collection centres that are mostly managed by the community of waste pickers. The BSWMC has, however, not included collection of construction debris in its scope of work. This goes against its original plan of making a single agency responsible for the collection and disposal of all types of waste in a particular ward.

According to officials, the agency is expected to send an auto tipper for the collection of wet waste on a daily basis and a separate vehicle (four-wheeler) for the dry waste twice a week in residential areas. In areas that are mostly commercial, the agency is expected to deploy a large vehicle (four-wheeler) with separate compartments for wet and dry waste on a daily basis. And push carts will be introduced on streets that are narrow.

Complaint redressal system

In the present system, the residents do not have an effective way of complaining whenever the garbage collection vehicle does not land up on their street. The complaints made on the Sahaaya 2.0 application are mostly unattended. The Bengaluru Smart City Ltd’s plan to set up an integrated command centre for streamlining complaint redressal system at a cost of Rs 10 crore is yet to take off.

“We have deliberated on improving the complaint redressal system. The service level benchmarks will be directly integrated with the payments. We expect the integrated command centre to be ready by the time the tender formalities are completed,” Dr Harish Kumar, special commissioner of BBMP’s solid waste management department, told DH.

The command centre will keep a track of all types of garbage vehicles. “Other than considering reports of marshals on the visual cleanliness of the ward, the bills of service providers will be cleared without manual intervention,” Kumar said.

Along with the present system of waste collection and disposal, the waste management experts want the BSWMC to slowly come up with policies that promote composting of waste at home or in large communities as well as at the ward level. “We cannot go on dumping waste in landfills. The civic body should promote sustainable waste disposal practices too,” Malini Parmar, co-founder of Stonesoup, a firm that promotes sustainable waste management, said.

“It is possible to compost waste locally. Many houses, apartment complexes in Bengaluru have been doing it for many years. The BBMP roughly spends Rs 300 per month per household for the disposal of wet waste. If the same money is given to the house as an incentive to compost wet waste in their homes, we can completely do away with landfills,” she explained.

What contractors will do

Contractors are responsible for collection of waste, clearing of blackspots, visual cleanliness of the ward and transporting street sweeping waste. Clearing construction debris is not a part of the scope of work.

Contract period extended to five years

Contractors may earn an average of Rs 20 lakh per month per ward for providing the service, including manpower and vehicles (roughly 15 vehicles and 2 compactors per ward).

Highlights of the new tender system

Project: Door-to-door collection and transportation of waste

Estimated cost: Rs 590 crore

Number of vehicles: 1,700 push carts, 2,100 three-wheelers and 2,700 four-wheelers and 525 compactors