BMP's door-to-door waste collection popular: survey

BMP's door-to-door waste collection popular: survey

The Hindu

Sanitary landfill is expected to start functioning next year at Mavallipura near Yelahanka


Bangalore: Solid waste disposal is a major concern among educated citizens in Bangalore as pointed out in the Environment Report Card released Saturday by the Centre for Sustainable Development.

The estimates vary but the municipal corporation area generates 2,150 tonnes to 2,500 tonnes of solid waste each day. The traditional method of disposal was to throw the waste into garbage bins, on the roadside or into vacant lots in the neighbourhood. But the practice of collecting household waste at the doorstep by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), after some residents' association started it, has found popular response.

While 88 per cent of households hand over their waste to the three-wheelers of the BMP, which go from street to street every morning, a significant 7.3 per cent do throw their waste into roadsides and vacant sites, the survey has found. More alarming was the finding that 29 per cent of hospitals/clinics still dispose of their medical waste, considered hazardous to public health, by dumping them on the roadside. Shops and schools too follow this method.

Barely 5 per cent of households and commercial establishments use garbage bins. There is a reason for that: the use of waste bins within the city has reduced considerably.

With the introduction of door-to-door collection, most waste bins have been removed. Many residents feel this was good because they attracted stray dogs, rats and cattle and the surroundings were always filled with waste, waiting to be collected by the BMP's contractors on their lorries, the next day. Nearly 400 trucks of the BMP and its contractors go around the city each day.

A majority of households (88 per cent) are satisfied with the door-to-door collection of waste. But in the eastern parts of the city, which includes the old Cantonment areas and new suburbs, 27 per cent of residents are not satisfied. In this zone, 11.1 per cent still use waste bins and 16.2 per cent throw their waste on street sides and into vacant lots.

When it comes to segregation of waste, Bangalore's record has been poor. Only 2.6 per cent of households segregate their waste into dry and wet waste before handing it over to waste collectors. On the brighter side, 53 per cent of hospitals and 36 per cent of eateries do segregate their waste.

According to the BMP, 95 per cent of solid waste generated is collected. But there are as yet no sanitary landfills around the city. BMP says 10 per cent to 15 per cent of collected waste goes to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation to be converted into organic manure. The rest is disposed of partly in private quarries. The first sanitary landfill for Bangalore is expected to start functioning next year at Mavallipura near Yelahanka, 20 km from the city. The landfill will cover 100 acres and will have a capacity of 1,000 tonnes per day for 30 years. Till then citizens can help the BMP by segregating their waste.