Double Trouble: Rain, garbage sink the Bengaluru

The flooding  Bengaluru has seen over the last few days because of heavy rains, has also exposed the poor garbage collection in the city, which has led to blocking of its drains that are supposed to  carry away the rain water. With the garbage problem worsening, it is time to change the collection system and do away with engaging contractors to do the job once and for all. Nikhil Gangadhar  reports

If the recent rains have once again held a mirror to the poor maintenance of the city’s storm water drains by the BBMP, they have also been a reminder of how ineffective its garbage collection is. With the roads littered with rubbish most days, it is no surprise that some of it finds its way into the storm water drains, choking them and leading to flooding of roads, underpasses, apartments and houses in heavy rain.

 While the BBMP has come up with so-called solutions to the city’s garbage problem, it doesn’t seem to be going away . On the other hand, it could  worsen given the fact that the volume of garbage is bound to increase in proportion to the city's growing population.  Currently, around 6,000 tonnes of garbage is produced every day in BBMP limits and the volume is expected to double in another 10 years. The BDA’s Revised Master Plan- 2031 for Bengaluru says the solid waste it generates every day will touch 14,000 tonnes in this time and of this 11,000 tonnes will be  in  BBMP limits alone.

The scenario seems grim as the contractors, who are involved in garbage collection,  often dump and burn the garbage themselves at isolated spots or on the service roads of the Outer and Inner Ring roads.

 A senior official of the BBMP’s Solid Waste Management department believes the garbage problem will never be resolved until the contractors are kept away. “The people think that the BBMP is responsible for the garbage strewn in the city, but in reality  the contractors are not doing their job. They fail to pay the pourakarmikas on time and harass them so much that they don’t bother to keep the city clean or collect garbage regularly, leaving the people no choice but to dump their rubbish on the roads,” he says.

Revealing that the department has urged senior officers to end the contract system and put the BBMP directly in charge of garbage collection , with a private organisation helping it  in segregating and recycling the waste, he says till date, it has received no response to this proposal. “Nothing has been done and every proposal related to garbage  collection,  favours only the corporators and the contractors more. 

Until the authorities put an end to this nexus between the two, garbage will continue to litter our streets and roads,” he warns.  Another official notes that the BBMP does not have any kind of plan in place to deal with the  garbage that is bound to increase as the city  expands in years to come. 

“When the 6,000 tonnes of garbage produced every day in BBMP limits is expected to double in another ten years, it should have a plan in place to deal with it. We need  a complete change in the garbage collection and segregation system. 

The government too needs to find proper spots for its disposal and segregation,” he suggests, also stressing that there needs to be a strict law against burning of garbage. 

“Garbage burning has increased in the city. At times, the people and the contractors themselves set fire to it, which should not be tolerated. It should be an offence inviting a jail term,” he underlines,  advising the people to behave responsibly and dump the waste only in the designated spots where bins have been installed.

 “Until the civic agency and the public work together, the problem will persist,” he concludes.

Illegal garbage dumping continues unabated
The city now has an army of civic activists and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) working for its welfare, but they don’t seem to be able to stop people from dumping garbage on street corners or in drains in their localities , although some are quite brazen about it, depositing their waste on roadsides in full public view.  Others are harder to catch as they wait till late evening when the roads are relatively quiet  to dump their garbage on them. Those who do the dumping, claim they have no choice as the pourakarmikas come to collect the garbage only at around 10 am much after they have left for work. Says Mr Suman Nagaraj of Ramamurthy Nagar, “We have requested the BBMP officials to send the garbage collection vehicle early, but  it has not obliged. These pourakarmikas come around 10 am and I cannot wait for them, as I have to go to work. We dump the garbage in vacant plots or on  pavements, as we have no choice. The BBMP should have at least installed bins, but it has not.” Mr Nagaraj is also unhappy that the wet and dry waste is collected  on alternate days. “When they collect dry waste, they don’t accept the wet. As we cannot have it raise a stink at home,  we again have no option but to dump it in the open. The BBMP should arrange to have both wet and dry waste collected the same day,” he suggests. Ms Namitha Raj, who owns an eatery,  complains  garbage collection in the city is often irregular. “There are days when the pourakarmikas come regularly and some weeks when they don’t turn up at all.  So we end up dumping the garbage on the service road of the Outer Ring Road at night when no one is around. Initially, I hesitated to dump the garbage. but there was no other way. I also noticed garbage trucks dumping the waste on the service road near Kasturi Nagar. The ring roads have become a black spot as no one seems to care,” she regrets. Ms Savitha Rai, a social activist working for the pourakarmikas, also blames the irregular garbage collection for the dumping that takes place on the roads , pavements or empty sites. “Take a look at the Bannerghatta Main Road, which is full of garbage heaps.  It’s the same on the pavement near the skywalk near Forum Mall.  There are many such spots, but the BBMP looks the other way,” she complains, adding that if  the water flows into apartments and houses and main roads like under the Hebbal flyover in rain, it is because the drains are choked with rubbish. “The drains are blocked due to the garbage thrown into them. And why does this happen? We need to understand that if garbage is cleared regularly, the city will have fewer problems. The BBMP must make  a note of this,” she stresses.