Garbage Underbelly of Bengaluru

A dry waste collection centre that has not been functioning for two years, garbage piles that refused to relent in size despite daily clearing and lakes turning into black spots. In just three days after a city-wide exercise to check on solid waste management, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has found over 200 black spots. The Board had formed eight teams to scour all the 198 wards.

In the preliminary stages of the survey, East Bengaluru seemed the worst of the lot. On Wednesday, an inspection of six wards revealed 24 major black spots. In Banaswadi, the transit segregation was occupied by a herd of cows while a Dry Collection Centre has been locked for ‘no apparent reason’ for the past two years. The Banaswadi lake has been converted into a ‘black spot’ with residents spotted dumping garbage bags into the water body, which lacks proper fencing.

Regional officers who talked to The Hindu say much of the problems in garbage collection and segregation are systemic. One problem is the timing of door-to-door collection, which happens primarily between 6.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. “Many residents are not in the house during this time, or do not know when the civic worker arrives. The vehicle waits for barely two minutes at each house. Garbage that is not collected often ends up on roads, lakes, drains or in black spots,” said an environment officer. 

Door-to-door collection often excludes commercial establishments, which are not open during this time. Roadside dumps and black spots are cleared – if at all – by 11 a.m. But by evening, the black spot is back. KSPCB suggests increasing the frequency of clearing black spots, but civic workers plead that their trucks get held up at dumpsites and landfills for hours and even days.

Full article @ the Hindu