Will February bring freedom from garbage?

Will February bring freedom from garbage?

The Hindu Team

Come February, garbage collection will become mechanised in Bangalore. Will it mean a cleaner environment or will we continue to live with the sight of cows and dogs feasting on overflowing heaps of garbage? The Public Eye team finds out.


BANGALORE: Will Bangalore roads, at least the main and arterial ones, see cleaner days with the ushering in of mechanised collection of garbage from February? This is what the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) promises us.

The 2,200 tonnes of garbage that the city generates will be segregated at source under the new system. Specially designed vehicles called "closed compactors" will be used instead of containerised autorickshaws and open lorries to transport the waste. This will prevent the spilling of garbage on the roads and help in quick transportation. The waste is compressed in the "closed compactors." Commercial areas will be tackled at night.

As many as 11,000 pourakarmikas, or conservancy workers, including 4,000 permanent employees, are engaged in cleaning the city. Though the BMP has made it mandatory for the contractors to provide the workers with gloves, gum-boots, raincoats and uniforms, this rule has been violated in most instances.

Under the new contracts, pourakarmikas who are now paid between Rs. 1,200 and Rs. 1,500 a month have been promised Rs. 2,075. This apart, they will also get ESI and PF benefits.

The BMP will spend Rs. 390 crore in the next three years on cleaning the city. While Rs. 270 crore will go to private contractors, the remaining will be used on salaries and other expenses.

Officials justify the increase in expenditure from Rs. 38 crore to Rs. 90 crore, pointing to the increase in the number of "health wards" cleaned by private contractors from 182 to 253. The BMP has divided its 100 wards into 332 health wards for administrative convenience. Of the 332, private contractors are handling 182. The number of houses to be covered by the contractors will increase from 6.8 lakh to 9.5 lakh. This will increase fuel costs and the service tax for the contractors. Besides, the contractors will have to use machines. Will the BMP be wasting taxpayers' money on the same set of contractors for the same kind of "shoddy" service they have been providing so far?

According to a study by Basavanagudi MLA K. Chandrashekar, the BMP will be spending over Rs. 4.2 crore extra on cleaning the additional 71 health wards.

"This additional expenditure is almost double the amount the BMP is now spending on cleaning the 182 health wards entrusted to private contractors," the study points out.

A comparison of the amount spent on cleaning the six wards of Govindrajnagar, Chandra Layout, Jagjeevanramnagar, Hanumanthnagar, Padmanabhanagar and Hombegowdanagar in 2003-2004 and the outlay for 2006-2007 shows that the BMP will spend over Rs. 62 lakh extra just for deploying 532 additional workers, five extra lorries and 16 additional autorickshaws.