How BBMP failed to set up waste processing units

The recent protests by Mandur residents over dumping of garbage in their village highlighted how the BBMP failed to keep its promise of setting up garbage processing units at various locations in the City and its outskirts.

The BBMP, along with the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels’ Association (BBHA) and the Pune-based company Noble Exchange, had entered into a tri-partite agreement to dispose of garbage from hotels by setting up waste-to-energy plant using kitchen waste from hotels.

But the project has remained on paper till date as the BBMP failed to even fence about five acres of land leased out to the BBHA for the purpose.

BBHA sources claimed that investors withdrew from the project “because various government agencies delayed processing the permit.”

Investors not forthcoming

BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana said the parties were not able to attract investors to the project and get the necessary clearances.

In 2012, the BBMP had directed bulk garbage generators such as hotels, malls, residential complexes, IT parks and marriage halls to manage their own garbage by composting wet waste and disposing dry waste to dry waste collection centres.

The 2,000 establishments associated with the BBHA generate about 250 tonnes of wet waste every day, president of the association Chandrashekhar Hebbar said. “The company has assured that it will pick and process the wet waste from member hoteliers from January 2015,” he said.

BBHA secretary K Ramamurthy said that most hotels segregating their garbage sent the wet waste to piggeries, but kept the dry waste to be collected by the Palike’s sanitation workers.