SWM officials, experts bat for decentralised waste management

Officials and experts on solid waste management (SWM) and water treatment noted that only a decentralised mechanism can offer a solution to the problems faced by expanding cities like Bengaluru.

The second day of the ‘Smart Cities Investment Summit’ began with a panel discussion on ‘Sanitation and Waste management: Clean Karnataka’.

BWSSB Chairman Tushar Girinath, who moderated the discussion, said though sewage treatment plants come as a major solution for the waste water generated by the city, scaling up the operations to treat the entire sewage from the city was a challenge. "We have found that solution lies in the decentralised treatment systems, including making it mandatory for large and even medium-sized apartments to treat their water," he said.

BBMP Special Commissioner for SWM Randeep D, who spoke about the challenges in their respective fields in dealing with waste, said a major problem for cities like Bengaluru was lack of land for processing and disposing of waste.

"The problems begin with finding small space for waste segregation as residents in the neighbourhood will protest the smell. We take the waste outside the city and residents in villages 50 km away from the city question why they have to deal with the waste from Bengaluru,” he said.

Taking a cue from Israel Consul for Trade and Economic Affairs Shai Moses, both officials said there was a need for changes in policy where waste treatment is mandatorily decentralised to avoid the challenge of dealing with mountains of garbage.