Sunday, 29 June 2014

SWM - Let’s talk R U B B I S H!!! Bangalore Burning….

Let’s talk R U B B I S H!!! Bangalore Burning….
Vidio Link : https://youtu.be/qniQAdS_SOQ

Solid Waste Management has always been a matter of concern because anywhere in the world it operates on a “reverse flow” system. Unlike power / water supply, the service generates outwards. No one wants to keep garbage at home for a long period of time.

Years ago, the Bangalore City Municipal Corporation (now BBMP) did come up with the idea of bringing in a rule for garbage disposal. According to the rule book, garbage could be piled on a Civic Amenities (CA) site in a locality before it was collected for disposal by dumpsters. But, this turned out to be impractical because no one but the rare civic-conscious person would trudge all the way to the CA site to dispose rubbish! Then, cement-ring dustbins were installed at street corners. It was decided -- after much deliberation -- to install these bins on the left corner of every street. But overnight, people would move the rings elsewhere because they couldn’t stomach the stench or the mess near their houses! The cat-and-mouse game between residents got to a point where court cases were filed by neighbors against each other! Those who swept the streets piled garbage into the cement-ring bins, contractors dumped debris into them; butchers discarded poultry waste; and some nursing homes clandestinely dumped their bio-medical waste in them! So, cement-ring bins were phased out in 2004-05. 
Cement ring garbage bins kept at street corners

But before that, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) - through the Indo-Norwegian Environment Programme (INEP) -- partnering with Environment Support Group (ESG)-- began a small experiment in solid waste management in Basavangudi area in Bangalore. They also wanted to change the image of pourakarmikas, who were treated rather shabbily and had no proper equipment. The other objective of the experiment was to phase out the ring bins so that secondary dumping of garbage is avoided. Those handling garbage were given uniforms. Their health was monitored. They were given gloves, masks, biodegradable brooms with long handles, and shoes. They were also provided with the wheelbarrows to collect garbage. Residents were given three bins: one for “green” waste which is degradable, one for “non-degradable” waste like plastic, metal and glass which can be recycled, and one for “hazardous” waste like unused medicines, blades, razors, needles, batteries etc.
Colored bins for segregation of waste

Push carts for garbage collection
Similarly, there were three bins in the wheelbarrows. Door-to-door garbage collection would be done by 11 am every day. Trucks would wait near the CAsite in the locality and take the garbage to treatment plants - green waste to vermi-compost heaps near Parappana Agrahara; recyclable waste to identified vendors; and hazardous waste to specially-designed landfills which had impermeable plastic lining to prevent pollution of ground water. But, KSCST and ESG could monitor the movement only till the garbage reached the truck.
Then, shockingly, the systematically segregated garbage would be mixed and dumped in the landfills! While cement-ring bins have been phased out and there is door to door collection of garbage in most part of the city, segregation and treatment remain on paper and dumping continues unabated. 

Stories of Mavallipura, Mandur ……… took over the front page of the media attention.

Today Bangalore Burning…… 

most street corners have piles of leaf litter along with plastics set on fire mostly by “BBMP” sweepers / contractors to choke the city. Most of us haplessly turn the other side……??????

Be the change you want:

  1. Don’t litter and don’t throw garbage on the road or in front of someone else’s house. Put it into your dustbin at home.
  2. Don’t hang plastic covers with garbage outside your door / gate the previous night. That’s criminal and lazy! It can attract rodents and dogs.
  3. Don’t entrust garbage disposal to your maid. She will invariably chuck it into the nearest ditch, gutter, vacant site or park.
  4. Use covered bins and keep them outside for the garbage collector if you leave early to work or are a late riser.
  5. Follow segregation to the extent possible. Don’t dump batteries and medicines with vegetable peels and paper. Collect them over a period of time and take them to collection centers of the Pollution Collection Board in certain Food World outlets…..  in your city. 
  6. Treat solid waste collectors with dignity. Remember, they are cleaning up after you!