Bangalore garbage mess: Adding fuel to the fire

The entire system put in place by the BBMP for the segregation and effective disposal of garbage seems to have broken down; heaps of garbage remain littered on roads and pavements, in open drains and street corners as well as vacant plots.

While the waste segregation drive kicked off with a lot of enthusiasm and good intentions, the spirit behind it seems to have faded over time. Bangaloreans complain that the pourakarmikas don’t attend to their trash daily and because of this, many of them have started to dispose of it in the wrong ways — by throwing garbage bags into open drains and canals, burning it or simply leaving it unattended to, for instance.

As Anjan Kumar, an investment banker, points out, the root of the problem is the
fact that Bangaloreans are so dependent on the pourakarmikas to handle their trash. If they don’t turn up consistently, there are no alternatives in terms of dustbins or trash trucks where they can dispose of their garbage.

“There are no spaces which have been identified and allocated for waste disposal. I stay in K R Puram, which is a fairly congested place. If the pourakarmikas don’t collect the garbage, the residents here tend to leave it at street corners which aren’t frequented or dead-ends, because they have no other choice,” he explains, adding that setting up specific garbage lots in each colony, which are cleared on a daily basis, will help solve the problem of improper disposal."

Aditya, a software engineer who lives in Banashankari, highlights another angle to the issue. As he says, very often the problem occurs further down the chain. “In my colony, the process of waste collection is going quite smoothly.

But I’ve seen heaps of litter in other parts of the City, which obviously means that this isn’t the case everywhere,” he acknowledges, adding, “I don’t think individual residents are always responsible for this. Sometimes, those who collect the garbage are unsure of what to do with it and end up disposing of it incorrectly. If there was a more coherent system in place, which they are told to follow, this problem could be handled much better.”

Obviously, abandoning garbage in open drains and canals poses a host of health hazards to the residents in the vicinity. Dr Huliraj, a physician, points out that those who suffer from chronic lung diseases are the worse effected. “Accumulation of garbage is enough to trigger off an asthma attack in someone who already suffers from it — patients have to be very careful, if they want to avoid unnecessary hospitalisation and treatment. Apart from that, unattended garbage can also spread infection and cases of pneumonia could rise,” he says.

“Besides this, trash which has been disposed of in drains also serves as potent breeding grounds for different organisms — leading to the spread of problems like dengue,” adds Dr Huliraj.

However, it’s also true that in this case, Bangaloreans have themselves to blame in part. For instance, even in areas where the pourakarmikas do collect the trash every morning, some homes empty out their dustbins in the evening as well — adding to the general litter in the area. And it’s common sense that dumping a garbage bag into an open drain will create all sorts of health hazards.

Shubha Ramachandran, a member of the City’s Rainwater Club, reflects, “Most large apartment complexes and colonies have a system in place to manage their garbage. However, in a lot of individual homes as well as small shops and clinics, you’ll find the maid being sent out in the evening to dispose of additional garbage. People have to be willing to put in the effort to comply with the system — the BBMP can’t be held responsible for everything.”