New plan to make City garbage free

The State government is toying with the idea of setting up an “autonomous” body to deal exclusively with solid waste management to rid the City of garbage menace. 

The Solid Waste Management Authority (SWMA), suggested by a team of experts, is stated to be an “answer” to the garbage woes that have dogged the City over the past six months.

Secretariat sources associated with the proposal said the  SWMA, unlike the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), would be “equipped” with manpower exclusively meant to deal with garbage problems.

The set-up will have a team of technical experts which will not only monitor tenders for disposing of garbage but also assist the City in dealing with safe and secure disposal of waste, an official said.

The SWMA is also slated to draw policy guidelines to dispose of waste in the long run. “It will also be given powers to deal with environmental issues related to garbage, thus removing a major burden from the BBMP that does not have the adequate expertise to deal with such issues,” said the official.

However, a major obstacle before the State government is the amendment to the Karnataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) Act, 1976.  As per Section 255 of the Act, the BBMP commissioner is entrusted with disposal of waste and rubbish. The commissioner can appoint and delegate personnel for disposing of garbage from City streets.

If the act is amended, considering the State Assembly elections are scheduled this year, the SWMA may be extended to other municipal corporations in the State.

BBMP officials and corporators have ridiculed the move stating that the formation of an “allied” body will be no more than a hindrance to the functioning of the Palike.

“The government will have to make a separate allocation for the body and then, perhaps, make the BBMP liable to monitor the entire issue,” said a senior Palike official.

Sources in the government state that an independent SWMA is an integral part of many  western nations which have successfully dealt with the garbage problems in their respective countries.

Meanwhile, MP Ananth Kumar, speaking for such an initiative and asserting that the task would be complete within the next 30 days,  said the SWMA will help in lightening the burden of the BBMP in providing solution to the garbage crisis in the City.

He said he would apprise the chief minister of the situation at the ground level and expedite work in this regard.