The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is contemplating bovine solutions to get rid of the garbage menace, which has cowed down the civic agency for the last six months.

Now, it has dawned upon the BBMP authorities that it was not for nothing that the kine were revered in the country for ages. With the City roads and lanes littered with piles of stinking garbage, the Palike is now looking to the cows to ensure a clean City.

The idea came up at a public forum during an interaction of Palike officials with Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) at the Town Hall on Saturday. The meeting was organised to evolve ways to get rid of mounting waste in the City. It was Dr Meenakshi Bharath, an office-bearer of Citizens' Action Forum, who suggested that raising of cattle will help get rid of kitchen waste.

Bharath said, “Rearing cows has its own benefits. Its milk is full of nutrition while its dung makes for good compost. On an average, a cow eats 35 kg of fodder a day. If the kitchen waste containing vegetables can be fed to them, a large amount of garbage generated at the household level can be reduced.”

As for vacant sites, she suggested converting them into small parks or playfields till the time owners of such plots build houses.

The strange cow idea has already got the backing of BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel.
Goel said the Palike was looking at go-shalas (dairies) as a means to reduce vegetable waste generated in the markets.  “We can stop dumping vegetable wastes at landfill sites and divert them to dairies.”

He said the Palike planned tie up with dairies and BBMP markets for the daily consumption of vegetable waste.

It has so far identified six major dairies, including the one at Koramangala with 800 cattle, while search is on for other dairies  for consumption of vegetable waste generated in the City, he said.