Door-to-door collection of garbage in a mess

Many residents say their efforts to segregate and collect comes to nothing when the waste pickup system does not stick to schedules. DH file photo

Door-to-door garbage collection from small apartments and unorganised residential clusters across the city is in a mess. Reason: collectors come and go in a jiffy, while residents have no organised plan to keep the solid waste segregated and ready to be picked up.

Is there a way out? The Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF) offers a solution, which has worked well for thousands of flats under its umbrella: segregate the waste, place them at a central point from where the sanitation workers pick it at the time of their choice.

As BAF treasurer Vikram Rai puts it, appointing working welfare committees to manage this process can do the trick.

Yet, poor coordination remains a major obstacle for seamless waste pickup, as a DH team found out in localities across Bengaluru. Many residents say their efforts to segregate and collect comes to nothing when the waste pickup system does not stick to schedules.

Residents of Kamalanagar, Vidyaranyapura, Thindlu, Peenya and Richards Park say they are strict about segregation. But, as Kamalanagar resident Monisha admits, this civic responsibility is not the rule. There are people who throw garbage on roads and empty fields, she adds, attributing this to the difference in timings of the arrival of trucks.

In Chowdeshwari Nagar, Frazer Town, Chamarajpet and Benson Town, residents have another complaint, which finds its echo across the city: Though they segregate the waste, the garbage collectors dump them all together. This results in a lack of interest among residents to segregate.

But the sanitation workers do not agree to this. They say the residents are irresponsible, and the work of segregation falls entirely on them. One of them, Chinnababu says at least 15-20 houses in a day give out mixed garbage. When the pourakarmikas refuse to accept them, residents dump the waste on the road, he adds.

This contention does not cut any ice with Anjana, a resident of Marathahalli. She charges the garbage collectors with bribery. “They only go to lanes where they are paid extra. Lack of regular pay and low wages drive them to unethical practices like these. This affects the general population as a whole,” she explains.

To tide over these issues, the Richards Park Residents Welfare Association has activated a plan. Association member, Zakir Hussain elaborates: “We have put up five trash cans in every apartment and two in individual homes to segregate waste, strictly following waste management rules. Palike workers collect the wet waste daily, while private workers pick up the dry waste thrice a week.”

Those who miss the trucks, Hussain adds, are asked to place their bins inside the apartments. These bins are cleared the next day. “This prevents garbage being dumped on the roads, and the area remains clean.”