Palike trashes rules that mandate waste segregation

BBMP commissioner says infra not fully in place

With the City in the grip of another garbage crisis, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) seems to have junked the solid waste management rules that mandate segregation of trash at source.

The BBMP has failed to enforce the Solid Waste (Handling and Management) Rules, 2000 (also called as Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules of 2000) and collected just Rs 48 lakh from commercial and residential dwellers in the last two years. Unsegregated garbage can be seen lying across Bengaluru and at landfill sites.

Following a High Court order on October 10, 2012, the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act was amended, and a gazette notification published on August 20, 2013. The Governor’s assent came on August 19, 2013.

BBMP officials were given penalising powers, but the Palike isn’t implementing segregation at sources at most places.

H C Sharatchandra, a member of the BBMP’s solid waste management expert committee, said that for efficient management, segregation at source was crucial. The reason why the Palike is unable to do so is it doesn’t have a dedicated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) cell, he said. The committee, according to Sharatchandra, had stressed giving executive magistrate powers to certain officials of the BBMP so that they can impose fine.

T V Ramachandra, of the Energy and Wetlands Research Group at the Centre for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science, said that at some places, only people were forced to segregate. “Penalising from the user’s point of view is fine, but accountability in the BBMP is lacking. Strict norms are there, but nothing much is happening on the ground,” he said.

BBMP Commissioner G Kumar Naik acknowledged that the Palike wasn’t able to enforce the rules strictly and penalise people who don’t segregate at source. He said infrastructure wasn’t fully in place and landfill sites had mixed waste.

“Composting units aren’t ready or operational. New tenders need to be floated and strict guidelines issued to new garbage contractors. The existing dumping sites should be cleared and a proper channel created to ensure all segregated waste goes to the landfill sites,” Naik said.