Bengaluru: Last November, the Karnataka High Court had directed the BBMP to install processing plants in all the 28 Assembly constituencies in the city to reduce the burden on landfills. Exactly a year later, the BBMP is yet to take action, and it does not seem to be in a hurry to implement it either.
According to a top official in the solid waste management department, the BBMP will strengthen the dry waste collection centers (DWCCs) in every ward and will increase the capacity of processing plants in all its eight divisions, but may not install plants at every Assembly constituency.
“There were intense protests from the citizens on the proposed processing plants. Nobody wants garbage processing units in their neighbourhood. We tried convincing people in some wards, but decided to give up after they strictly refused,” the official said, adding that finding space within the city limits was another challenge.
Though not a single plant has been installed in the city so far, of the 16 proposed bio-methanisation plants 13 are fully functional. These plants have the capacity to process five tonnes of wet waste every day, but are receiving lesser quantities.
Segregation of garbage at source, which is still not being followed stringently, has led to the failure of these plants. “Except the K.R. Market plant where electricity is being generated from waste, other plants are not making a notable progress.
“Sufficient wet waste is not being sent to these plants. As of now, around 1 to 1.5 tonnes of wet waste is sent to bio-methane plants. However, we plan to increase the quantity gradually, especially with the Mandur deadline just a few weeks away,” he said.
The DWCCs at every ward level, on the other hand too, are not successful as the BBMP hoped to be. The official added that the people preferred to sell milk packets and plastic bottles to vendors and these kabadiwalas too were not interested in selling the stuff at DWCCs.
Planning to strengthen these plants along with the processing units in its eight divisions, the BBMP has given up the idea of developing new plants in each constituency, an official said.
