Residents of S.T Bed Layout fail to segregate their waste which is leading to unsanitary conditions in the area. BBMP workers’ consequent refusal to collect unsegregated garbage is adding to the crisis.
Despite warnings from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) marshals, segregation of waste is not taken up in a proper manner in S. T. Bed layout, near Koramangala. Several apartment blocks have been fined by the BBMP for not segregating their waste, but say BBMP officials, they continue to put out mixed waste.
Consequently, some BBMP garbage collectors have stopped collecting waste from these apartment blocks.
The secretary of an apartment block in S. T. Bed said that the tenants refuse to follow the rules and segregate their waste stating their busy schedules. “The tenants fail to follow the rules despite several warnings from the apartment association,” she said. A resident from the neighbourhood of Koramangala said, “As an owner myself, I see people in the apartment not segregating their waste in the bins allotted for different kinds of waste.
A garbage contractor said, “Residents do not segregate waste and it is a problem to clear out the garbage due to the foul smell. Plastic bags and not just waste are piled up in the bins. We have the rule of sending out the vehicle meant for dry waste three times a week and the other days for wet waste, yet there is no segregation.”
Apartment blocks are considered bulk generators of waste, according to the BBMP by-laws. An official from the BBMP health department, Koramangala, said, “According to the by-laws of solid waste management, any residential housing that produces 50 to 100 kilogramsof waste, is considered under commercial building and therefore a bulk waste generator.”
According to the BBMP guidelines, a bulk waste generator is expected to segregate their solid waste into necessary categories which are wet waste, dry waste, sanitary waste, and recyclable waste. The process of disposal then becomes eco-friendly.
On the contrary, a few residents complain that there are days when the garbage is not collected for over a week .They then have to contact the garbage contractor.“Yet they charge a monthly fee for garbage collection and disposal which includes segregation as a surcharge,” they said.
According to the composting guidelines by the KarnatakaState Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the incoming waste is meant to be sorted beforefurther processing. Necessary precautions are taken to minimise the odour, flies, rodents, bird menace, and fire hazards.
Recently, the fire department had to be called to douse a garbage heap that had caught fire on First A main, ST Bed Layout, “The problem lies with individual efforts that are non-existent when it comes to dumping of garbage. How long can it take to just put the garbage in the right bins? It is never the right thing to dispose plastic covers knowing the harm it can do,”a resident in the vicinity said.
A plant manager of BBMP East Division explained how segregating garbage had led to better composting.
