BBMP’s plan fails to reach the meat shop owners, who end up paying double the amount to private vendors for waste collection.
Meat shop owners in Cottonpet and Chamarjpet have hired vendors for collecting and disposing their waste by paying a fee of Rs.100 every day, as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) initiative to reach them has not worked.
Umbra Ahmed, a red meat shop owner in Cottonpet said, “I collect the waste in a tub and once it is full, I dispose it on the side of the road or just keep the tub outside my shop, so that later the stray animals can eat it.”
Narsulla, a chicken shop owner in Chamarajpet said, “I have a private vendor who picks up the waste every day in the evening and disposes of it in the dump yards. He picks up the waste from the rest of the meat shops as well, and we all pay the vendor his fee.” However, he is unaware that BBMP is responsible to collect meat waste. He said that no BBMP authorities have visited him regarding this.
Dr. Raja K, a veterinary doctor said, “The meat disposal should be proper and if served to the stray dogs or cats, it can affect their health and can cause diarrhea, vomiting and can lead to food poisoning in them.”
Farookh, an attendant at the public toilet located just opposite the Chamarajpet meat shops said, “ The shops are usually very crowded the whole day and they never throw the remaining waste out. However, in the night, they throw it in the garbage bins near the washroom.”
As per the Solid Waste Management (SWM) rules 2016, the meat, poultry and fish waste should be collected on a day to day basis. Additionally, a decentralized compost plant or bio-methanation plant should be set up at suitable location.
Santosh Kaddi, the assistant executive engineer at the SWM department (BBMP), Chickpet division said, “We have strictly set up the rules for collecting the meat waste and we do collect it from the shop owners. We have hired vendors for it who take a fee of Rs.30-40 from owners. Chamarajpet division is old and the shop owners must be unaware of this plan.”He added, “We will fulfill our duty and spread awareness about the plan to the shop owners.”
Mayyana Gowda, Senior Veterinary Inspector in the BBMP animal husbandry department explained that BBMP and Bangalore Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) passed a tender for setting up rendering machines in the city for the disposal of the produced waste.
The city produces approximately 40 to 50 tonnes of meat waste daily. This meat waste is then incinerated to produce protein powder that can be used to feed fishes and animals.
Gowda said, “The ones who have a legal license of the shop have signed up for the rendering plant, where a vendor from BBMP collects waste from them and takes it for incineration. The ones who are illegally running the shops without a license dispose of the waste in dustbin.”
Rahul, marketing strategist working with Wasted 360 Solution Pvt. Ltd. Co. said, “The city requires rendering facilities, as it produces tonnes of meat waste every day. Also, shop owners who hand over the waste to BBMP vendors should be encouraged for that.”
He said that the shop owners without a license should get one or their shops can be seized. They should be made aware of the vendor pick-up facility, he added.
