‘Trashing’ a problem: BBMP heal thyself

A day after unruly behaviour by a BBMP health inspector, who took objection to improper segregation of waste, corporator Hana Bhuvaneshwari and BBMP commissioner G. Kumar Naik swung into action and urged bulk generators to segregate waste at source as mandated and directed authorities to be courteous with the public. The incident makes it evident that officials too need an orientation programme on how to deal with public.

Irked residents of 3rd cross Raiyan Garden in Hutchins Road in Cooke Town took to social media platform Facebook on a community page by name ‘Cooke Town The Community’ on Wednesday and aired their grievances regarding garbage woes on the street and the harassment meted out to them at the hands of BBMP health inspector Ms Chitra. This drew the attention of ward councillor Hanna Bhuvaneshwari.

The Corporator who represents  Marutisevanagar (Ward 59), took note of the situation after reading the e-plaint made on the community page, and joined the discussion. She pacified the residents and condemned the unruly behaviour of the health inspector Chitra. In one of the replies to the post, Bhuvaneshawari allegedly wrote, “I went through the entire complaint and I am ashamed to go through this. Indeed! Very pathetic situation and I will make sure it gets resolved.”

For now, the garbage mess in the ward is being resolved but one will have to wait and see if it recurs in future too. The corporator has promised appropriate action but like it has happened in many other wards in the city, the garbage could start piling up sooner than later creating an unbearable stink all around.

Bhuvaneshwari told Deccan Chronicle that what matters is the solving of the problem and not blowing it out of proportion. “I don’t want any malicious feelings to exist between the residents and the BBMP workers or for that matter with any other government official. I spoke to health inspector Chitra and also the affected residents and the issue is resolved. I deeply regret whatever happened and apologise for it.”

She further said, “I believe in change. I am the face of my ward representing my residents, my workers and my officials. It just happened in the heat of the moment. But, today, the situation is back to normal and the garbage collection was done,” Bhuvaneshwari added.

Adnan Khalid, a resident of Raiyan Garden Apartments and the complainant told Deccan Chronicle, “It was good to see the ward councilor’s immediate response to the problem. She was briefed about the entire incident and promised to take appropriate action against Ms Chitra who should be reprimanded for what she did.”

Read | ‘Tough action should be taken against those illegally dumping garbage’

“The residents have been forthcoming in segregating the garbage. We are ready to help the workers to segregate the waste along with them but that can’t be done alone. We need help and assistance from BBMP authorities and senior officials,” Khalid said.

Another resident, Avner Barack, said, “The locality is also grappling with another issue of defacing of walls done by  broadband companies. I am glad that when I told Ms Bhuvaneshwari about the Hathway broadband company defacing all the walls, streetlight posts, trees, gates etc with their posters and requested her intervention, she quickly responded to the issue.”

Some residents hoped the corporator would continue to lend a patient hearing to their problems and visit their area regularly instead of doing it occasionally.

Palike plans big, but fails to implement

The civic body, whose primary duty is to manage and process the municipal solid waste has failed to keep the city free from stench and clear mounds of garbage, which have turned into an eyesore.

The BBMP has been spending crores of rupees to clear garbage and to create awareness among the public on the importance of segregation of waste at source, but it has failed to educate its own staff in dealing with public!

BBMP has been talking big about its plan to introduce dry and wet waste collection vehicles in all residential areas.  East Bengaluru has been one of the most ignored areas by the BBMP authorities.
Parts of Indiranagar, Jeevanbhimanagar, Banasawadi, Ramamurthynagar, Devasandra, K.R. Puram and Pai Layout are some of the areas which hardly see any door-to-door collection happening.
There is no vehicle collecting wet waste, let along dry waste, alleged Narendra Kumar, resident of Ramamurthy Nagar.

 “The only dry waste collectors that we see are some rag pickers and ‘green warriors’ with their tricycles. Due to the irregular door to door garbage collection system that is in practice for the last two months, people have been throwing polythene bags filled with garbage at street corners that attract stray dogs and cows,” he alleged.

Solid Waste Management (SWM) cess has been collected along with the property tax without fail. But where is the service offered? Why should BBMP even collect SWM cess when it is not able to collect and clear the accumulated garbage across the city, he questioned.

A resident of Hoysalanagar in Horamavu ward, Shankar Narayan said burning garbage is a nuisance and causes health hazards. The BBMP has been organizing jatha and street plays to create awareness on importance of segregation of waste among the public.

It is imperative that the officials and pourakarmikas are given training on how to deal with public and how to collect and dispose of segregated waste, he added.

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