At vanguard of waste collection, but hardly guarded against disease

At the receiving end, literally

Every other day, sharp at 7 am, Gangamma, 56, arrives in a bright yellow garbage tipper, whistling to get the attention of residents. She visits over 250 houses in a ward of the BBMP to collect waste.

Soon, she is knee-deep in plastic bags filled with garbage, wearing a cloth glove on her one hand and no gumboots. The residents on her route seldom segregate their waste.

Normally, this kind of behaviour would annoy her, but now, during a pandemic, as face masks continue to appear in the mix, it terrifies her.

“I’ve been getting masks from the time Covid-19 cases started appearing in March but now...” she trails off.

Well now, just a kilometre from where Gangamma stands, an area has been barricaded as some people have tested positive there and she is terrified that she is receiving contaminated waste, and the masks.

Her concern is not new. Mansoor Gouse, 37, who picks waste from another ward in Bengaluru says there is no way to know whether the trash is contaminated or not and in a tonne of garbage, it is routine to find close to 400 disposable masks.

A passionate advocate for solid waste management, he has been making and sharing videos on social media, urging citizens to use reusable cotton masks.

Although he has not received protective equipment from the BBMP, Hasiru Dala, an NGO, has been providing him with masks, gloves and sanitisers.

Gangamma has not been fortunate. Like many workers in waste management, she works under a contractor. She received a disposable mask once, in May, which she has been washing and using. When it fell apart, she had to buy one herself, but could not buy gloves.

Gloves and masks are basic protective gear that many pourakarmikas are yet to receive, but even these might not provide them with full protection or the mobility they desire. Twenty-three pourakarmikas tested positive for the coronavirus recently in random testing. The results scare Gangamma, but she has little choice.

To add to her woes, Gangamma says she has not been paid for three months.

BBMP Special commissioner Randeep D said the BBMP has decided to issue one more round of more effective protective gear. “These will be higher quality gloves, masks and face shields. Some contractors have also been penalised for not providing protective gear to the garbage collectors. No decision has been taken yet on distributing full body PPE,” he said.

Gangamma sums up her situation thus, “My life did not matter then (before the pandemic) and it does not matter now.”

(Some names have been changed for their security and to protect their privacy)