Apartments get 2-month grace period for garbage disposal

Apartment owners can now relax a bit, with the Palike extending the deadline for them to make their own arrangements for garbage disposal.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has categorised multi-storey residential and commercial apartments as bulk garbage generators.

As per the norms, the apartment owners will have to find their own way to dispose of garbage, and the BBMP will only oversee the disposal mechanism.

The residents of multi-storey apartments will be liable for heavy penalty, if they fail to dispose of their waste properly.

Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy and Palike Commissioner Rajneesh Goel told reporters on Thursday that the Palike has extended the deadline by two months for the apartment owners.

The apartment owners must make their own arrangements during the grace period, the Mayor said.

Goel said the apartment owners, while obtaining the occupancy certificate give in writing that they will manage garbage on their own. They should not backtrack now, he said, adding that shying away from the legal bindings would invite penalty.

Goel said the apartment dwellers can afford to manage garbage better than the others, because they have space to set up biogas plants and utilise the compost manure for the gardens.

The excess compost, which is in great demand, could be given to farmers to increase the productivity of their crops, he said.

Training programme

About 200 sanitation workers (pourakarmikas) were given hands-on training on segregation of garbage at source at the Shantinagar Community Hall on Thursday.

A short film, directed by noted filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli, was screened on the occasion.

Addressing the workers, BBMP commissioner Rajneesh Goel reminded them of their responsibility to keep the City clean and green. Goel told them that segregated waste was like gold, while mixed waste was like poison.

He asked them to educate the people about the importance of segregating garbage.
“Take a little time off from your job, to teach people how to segregate garbage.

The short movie tells you how easily garbage can be segregated,” Goel said. Allaying fears among the pourakarmikas about the provisions in the new garbage tender, he said it protected their interests in many ways.

“As per the new norms in the tender, you shall be provided uniforms, gloves, pushcarts to protect you from health hazards,” Goel said.

‘Don’t create panic’

Shantinagar MLA N A Haris, who was present on the occasion, appealed to the commissioner not to create panic among the people about fines for not segregating garbage at source.

He said people should be encouraged to segregate trash at source as the success of the initiative lay in their hands.

N S Ramakanth, an expert in solid waste management, appealed to the sanitation workers to teach people how to go about segregating garbage.

“No special course or a degree is required for segregation of garbage at source. It is a very easy job which anyone can do,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Kathyayini Chamaraj from CIVIC, Bangalore, said two dustbins - one for dry waste and another for wet waste - were enough to segregate garbage.