Illegal shops: BBMP may form rehabilitation panel
BBMP will now set up a committee to discuss the pros and cons of shutting down illegal commercial units.
Bengaluru: BBMP, which has started issuing notices to commercial establishments operating in residential areas, will now set up a committee to discuss the pros and cons of shutting down illegal commercial units and appraise the government of possible options.
In a BBMP council meet to discuss starred questions on Saturday, opposition leader Padmanabha Reddy said, “BBMP has already started issuing notices to commercial traders operating in residential areas. The numbers of such units run in lakhs."
He wondered about the plight of the building owners, traders, workers and general public and wanted to know whether BBMP had planned any rehabilitation measures.
In his reply, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said the petitioners who had sought closure of these commercial units have warned of issuing contempt notice, if no action is taken. "As a first step we started issuing notices," he added. “Let us set up a committee and then send the resolution to the government for its consideration”, the commissioner said.
Ward panel list
BBMP Mayor G. Padmavathi on Saturday directed 198 corporators to submit the ward committee member list by February 15.
‘Blackhole’, solution to city’s garbage menace?
While solid waste management has been haunting Bengaluru for long, a city-based private company has offered solutions to the menace. TeslaENERGY has come out with a new product that can melt garbage without the help of electricity or fuel, except for one-time initial lighting up of the garbage. The machine, 'The Blackhole', uses American technology and has the capacity to process one tonne of waste a day. It was tested successfully at Platinum City in West Bengaluru on Saturday. The company has got the permission from the BBMP to run it on a trial basis at the Peenya Industrial Estate. The company claimed that the machine melts the garbage in a magnetic field chamber under temperatures of 350-500 degrees Celsius with controlled air flow. The byproducts generated are negligible compared to the bulk input, it said. Company CEO Amen Dhyllon said, "The machine has an inbuilt mechanism to take care of smoke and other types of pollution without affecting the environment. The low-cost machine can be taken by bulk garbage generators. It will solve solid waste management challenges and reduce dependence on landfills. The output flue gas can be used to generate electricity and the ash can be used in the cement industry and the tar can be used for laying roads.”