BBMP mulls to set up organic waste converter plant

The organic waste converter plant in Jayanagar. DH photo/S K Dinesh

After successfully running the organic waste converter plant in Jayanagar, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) now plans to set up a similar unit at Sarakki ward.

The Jayanagar plant, which collects wet waste from Pattabhiram Nagar ward in the constituency, composts it into manure that is sold to farmers in Ramanagara, Malur, Lalbagh nursery and even at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.

The BBMP had awarded the composting work to Vennar Organic Fertiliser Private Limited six years ago.

Manjunath Gowda, a representative from the plant, said, “We get about 1,000 tonnes of garbage from the ward every day. With the help of organic waste converter machine, we produce 300 kilograms of manure every 10 days. It is a semi-automatic machine where we have to feed in wet waste along with dry leaves.”

“We sell close to 15 tonnes of manure in a month at a cost of Rs 3-3.5 per kilogram. The manure is of good quality which we have got checked from GKVK Institute,” he added.

After watching the unit striding towards success, the civic body has proposed to set up a similar unit at Sarakki ward near Banashankari market.

However, due to non-availability of land in the ward, the proposal is in a cold storage for more than six months now.

A senior BBMP official from south zone said: “We had identified land near Banashankari metro station. But the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has opposed this as they claim that a Cauvery line from Tippagondanahalli passes through the place, and setting up a compost unit can be harmful to the pipeline.”

“We have written to the BWSSB explaining that there would be no harm to the pipeline. We will also hold a meeting with BWSSB officials over this,” the official added.

Surprisingly, Deepika Manjunath Reddy, corporator of Sarakki ward said there was no such proposal by the BBMP.