Trash sorting rule set to kick in, but BBMP not ready yet

With just 11 days left to make garbage segregation mandatory at every household, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike seems to be unprepared to enforce to rule.

The Palike had announced on December 15, 2016, that it will make segregation of waste at source mandatory from February 1. Those who do not segregate waste will be penalised, the Palike had warned.

The Palike had planned to start an awareness drive from January 1 where street plays and lectures in schools and colleges were to be organised. Pamphlets were to be distributed to every household and advertisements displayed at prominent places. However, the campaign has not taken off yet.

Citizens’ Action Forum (CAF) president D S Rajshekar flayed the Palike for not doing anything at the grass roots level other than issuing press statements. “Even if we segregate waste at home, Pourakarmikas (civic workers) mix dry waste with wet waste. Though announcements were made that Pourakarmikas will have separate bins in their waste-collection carts or three-wheelers, we have never seen them. It is only in the BBMP’s advertisements that we see Pourakarmikas moving around with two separate bins,” said Rajshekar.

A similar view was expressed by Basavanagudi Residents Welfare Association member B S Manohar, who said the Palike was never serious about segregation of waste at source.“Every time BBMP  announced that it is going to make segregation of waste at source mandatory, we followed regulations sincerely. The problem, however, is with the Pourakarmikas, who mix wet waste with dry waste. They are not adequately trained to handle segregated waste,” said Manohar.

When contacted, BBMP joint commissioner (solid waste management), Sarfaraz Khan said the drive will start at least a week before February 1.

“We will launch an extensive drive for segregation of waste at source. There will be a series of events across the city in the next one week. It will be sufficient to spread awareness among masses,” said Khan.

He added that he recently had a meeting with contractors and resident welfare associations to make the campaign successful. “Contractors have been told to strictly adhere to BBMP instructions. They must have separate bins to collect segregated waste from houses. Even RWAs agreed to spread awareness in their localities,” said Khan.