Garbage collection: Keep it dry and BBMP tipper will do the job!

BENGALURU: The city just might get cleaner, with the BBMP taking up a novel initiative to collect dry waste separately from garbage collection points. The Palike will deploy separate vehicles to collect the dry waste, and they will make the rounds every alternate day.

The BBMP was forced to take up the initiative after citizens and activists in different part of the city protested saying pourakarmikas mixed the waste after it was segregated.

The BBMP has floated tenders for dry waste collection and will start the project on a pilot basis in 35 wards. Based on the feedback from the public, the project will be extended to other parts of the city, said BBMP Administrator T.M. Vijay Bhaskar on Monday. The garbage collection vehicles, like tipper lorries and autorickshaws, that are being used now do not have separate compartments and waste was invariably getting mixed, he said.

Areas that generate large quantities of dry waste, like C.V .Raman Nagar, Gandhinagar, Rajajinagar, Malleswaram, Shantinagar, Shivajinagar, Hebbal, BTM Layout, Chickpet, Jayanagar and Basavanagudi, have been picked for the pilot project, he said. The garbage contract has expired in 113 wards, while tenders have been floated in 35 wards. In 78 wards, the estimation is being prepared, while in the remaining wards, existing contractors will continue to collect garbage, he said. A survey of the households, length and width of the roads is being conducted, he said.

The election code of conduct will not come in the way of the process, as garbage tenders were floated before the State Election Commission announced the calendar of events, Mr Bhaskar said.  “If need be, a letter will be sent to the SEC seeking an exemption to float tenders for garbage, as it is an essential and mandatory service,” he said.