BBMP seeks legal sanction for new waste management agency

The BBMP has sought legal nod for Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML), indicating its readiness to pass off its key obligation.

Just like how the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) handles water supply and sewage disposal issues, the responsibility to handle solid waste has been delegated to the new agency.

Last week, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath wrote to the state government seeking amendment to the BBMP Act, 2020, to insert the new agency in Section 285 of the act, making it the “duty” of the municipal body to “to implement the provisions of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 either through an agency or through its own”.

The amendment would put the onus “to regulate the management and handling of municipal solid waste and develop any infrastructure for collection, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of such solid wastes” on the new agency.

BSWML, established by the state government, has already begun work from a separate office in Vasanthnagar.

The BBMP also wants the government to delete the preparation of the solid waste management plan from the list of its duties, besides also wanting to stay away from training waste pickers and collectors, involving community in waste management, promoting home composting, and creating awareness about waste management.

The proposal is expected to receive backlash because the BSWML is not directly answerable to the councillors. When the council was in place, no official from the BWSSB attended its meetings, although the corporators regularly visited BWSSB offices.

Matter in high court

Meanwhile, the state government’s decision to establish a separate agency to handle solid waste has been challenged in the High Court.

The High Court has directed the government to explain if it can delegate the BBMP’s obligation to manage solid waste to a company it owns. The court also sought details of the decision to establish BSWML to undertake SWM tasks.

Confusions may also arise in future over distributing funds allocated by the state government for solid waste management. Currently, the empowered committee of the Urban Development Department has been authorised to decide on Shubra Bengaluru Grants, which runs to nearly Rs 1,000 crore.