Swachh shock: BBMP slips drastically in rankings

Claiming to replicate the Indore model of the garbage disposal system in Bengaluru, the BBMP has secured 'zero' points in the 'Garbage Free City' category of the Swachh Survekshan 2020 rankings.

Planning to implement the Indore model, a high-level delegation led by Mayor Goutham Kumar had visited Indore and even invited experts from there to replicate the model in five selected wards of the city.

Yet, the civic body failed to fully implement the model and secured zero points in the category, affecting its overall ranking.

“There are 100 points under the category and the dismal performance has affected the overall ranking of the BBMP, resulting in a 20-point fall on the rank list,” revealed senior officials at the BBMP.

"We had listed out our loopholes and chalked out detailed plans to rectify them. In fact, we had floated a garbage management system by adhering to the Waste Disposal Rules-2016 based on directions from the Centre and National Green Tribunal. We had even invited separate tenders for the collection of wet waste. But the new administration in the BBMP did not pursue it further,” the official added.

Lamenting on the poor performance, former Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun said: “We had completed the tender process in 160 wards and the same could have been implemented since October 2019. But the new administration in the BBMP did not show any interest in giving work orders to the contractors. But now, fearing the wrath of the high court, the corporation is gearing up to issue work orders to the contractors. Had the same been issued a year ago, the city would have performed well in the rankings.”

Commenting on the performance, D Randeep, Special Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, BBMP, said: “We could not implement the garbage disposal tenders. The vehicles were also not fitted with GPS devices. There were black spots when the surveyors visited a few areas. We did not have a centralised system monitoring the garbage collection and disposal system in place. The surveyors also took note of the fact that all the waste processing units were not performing according to their fullest capacity. All these points affected our performance.”

The civic body can process 2,000 tonnes of wet waste in all seven waste processing centres. Of these, the processing plants at the Subbarayanapalya and Seegehalli units with a capacity of 150 tonnes per day have been shut due to political pressure.

The Karnataka State Compost Development Corporation (KSCDC) plant near Mangammanapalya is capable of handling 350 tonnes of waste everyday and handles only 80 tonnes of waste.