Karnataka set to miss 2027 deadline to clear legacy waste

Hubballi: The 2027 deadline for clearing 173.07 lakh tonnes of legacy waste from 193 urban local bodies appears to be an uphill task for the state as several urban local bodies are unable to find qualified contractors even as trash continues to pile up in city dumps.

The 193 urban local bodies of Karnataka, at the end of December 2024, had to remediate at least 145.16 lakh tonnes of legacy waste, including 75.33 lakh tonnes of waste in Bengaluru.

Despite calling tenders multiple times, city corporations like Belagavi, Ballari, Kalaburagi, Davangere, Hubballi-Dharwad and Mysuru had failed to get any bidders or single bids to clear legacy waste. Even the condition that only an “experienced” contractor should apply did not help the state as not many local contractors have the required expertise and machines to participate in the tender bids.

In subsequent tenders, Mysuru and Hubballi -Dharwad received bidders and are bioremidiating their legacy waste

According to Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016, all the ULBs had to clear legacy waste within five years. However, Covid pushed the deadline by another year. While the old waste should have been cleared by 2022, the state government has been pushing the deadline, inviting a reprimand from the National Green Tribunal.

According to documents provided by the Urban Development Department, since the commencement of Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 in 2021, Karnataka had to clear at least 173.07 lakh tonnes of legacy waste of which the state capital alone had to remediate 97.82 lakh tonnes. In the last three years (end of 2024) the total legacy waste remediated is just 27.91 lakh tonnes out of which the 192 ULBs could clear only 5.42 lakh tonnes.

Only Shivamogga, Vijaypura and Tumakuru, utilising state finance funds and smart city funds, have been able to reclaim the landfills.

A senior officer in the Urban Development Department, who did not wish to be quoted, says ULBs started addressing the legacy waste very late. “Till 2021, not many ULBs had made any progress in clearing the heaps of wastes accumulated over years, in some cities the waste mountains are more than 20-25 years old.”

The officer said the process of preparing an action plan, getting it approved from both state and Union governments, getting approval for the detailed project reports and then calling for tenders took time.

Uday Kumar, additional deputy commissioner Belagavi City Corporation, said they had to call a tender trice as no one participated earlier. “The third time, one contractor showed interest in clearing three lakh tonnes of legacy waste at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore. However, as one bidder for the tender cannot be approved by BCC, the proposal was sent to the state-level advisory technical committee for approval. We are awaiting a response,” he said.

Sources in UDD informed DH that only one contractor has shown interest in clearing the legacy wastes in six city corporations and as he has not received approvals from the committee in a few corporations, he is not keen on taking up work in other city corporations.

Chaman Saab K, Mayor of Davangere, said the corporation is planning to file an FIR against the contractor for not taking up work even after getting approval for the last two months. The contractor has to clear 2.50 lakh tonnes of legacy waste at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore.

While the central government has allocated Rs 950.48 crore for legacy waste management (Rs 538 cr for BBMP and Rs 412.44 cr for the rest of 192 ULBs), so far the State has not utilised even a single paisa from it. However, the ULBs have been utilising State Finance Commission funds to reduce the heaps at landfills.