Plastic may turn out to be villain in City

Plastic may turn out to be villain in City

Deccan Herald

Lack of awareness among the public about the dangers of throwing plastic around is a major stumbling block.



The administrative buck continues to get passed on the plastic-clogged drains, which aggravated the Mumbai deluge. Bangalore could witness a similar blame game.

Surging plastic waste and inept recycling acumen are areas which Bangalore share with the rain-ravaged Mumbai. The city’s 7,000 km drainage network has long been a casualty of the litter culture and the presently on-off monsoon could well and truly unleash the menace on to the roads.

“Lack of awareness among the public is one major stumbling block. It’s too big an issue to be treated with such apathy. Banning carry bags less than 20 microns or five microns doesn’t quite matter because these bags are recyclable. What ails Bangalore is the huge amount of non-recyclable plastic waste,’’ says M A Chandramohan, Secretary, Karnataka State Plastic Bag Manufacturers and Traders Association (KSPBMATA).


The largely unplanned growth of the city, marked by a surge of high rises, has added to the throw-away culture. Precisely why a downpour invariably inundates even the poshest of residential areas with floating garbage — mostly comprising sachets, soft drink bottles, polybags and other plastic waste. Hospitals and hotels have their part to play in the menace but apartment residents invariably end up as the usual suspects. “That’s because these residents mostly depend on house-helps for disposal of garbage. In areas like Tippasandra and HAL III Stage, polybags, gutkha sachets and other plastic waste clog drains and the Corporation hasn’t taken action,” says A K Varadan, President - BDA Layout Residents’ Welfare Association.

Absymal conditions

Varadan says pourakarmikas, employed by the Corporation for collecting garbage, work in abysmal conditions, which in turn affects timely and effective disposal. With around 300 tonnes of plastic waste generated every month in Bangalore, that is not something to cheer about. Subsidised recycling costs, fine collection from violators and setting up of collection centres could save the day in the long run. “As an association, there’s a limit to what we can do. The real initiative has to come from the government and the experts,” says Chandramohan.

“You can’t really compare the Mumbai situation with Bangalore. Here, areas on higher grounds are relatively clear of such flooding,” says Srinivasan, Executive Secretary, Karnataka Ownership Apartment Promoters Association (KOAPA). Srinivasan reasons that for a city on sea level like Mumbai, high waters rushing into drains is always a possibility. “About plastic waste, I think only a complete ban could work. If there’s no supply, there’ll be no demand,’’ he says.

At the outset, a solution to Bangalore’s clogging drains can’t be that simplistic. However, no measure could be too drastic if the city is braving a potential deluge. In times which have even facilitated plastic-laid roads, perhaps all it takes is a start.