Waste disposal units a must in apartments

Waste disposal units a must in apartments

Or Else, Housing Units Will Not Get Clearance

Vinay Madhav | TNN

Bangalore: The BBMPs apathy has forced the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to make it mandatory for large apartments to install solid waste-management units. KSPCB chairman H C Sharathchandra told TOI that henceforth one of the pollution clearance conditions for large apartments would be having an on-site solid waste management unit.
Citing the examples of the Karnataka Golf Association , Bangalore Golf Club and Bangalore Club, which have such units, Sharathchandra said there is equipment available to manage solid waste on-site . This will lessen the burden on the BBMP. However, the decision is also partly due to the BBMPs inefficiency in handling solid waste.
Bangalore generates 3,000 tonnes of solid waste daily that is disposed of in five solid waste management (SWM) plants around the city. These plants can together handle over 3,400 tonnes per day. But only around 1,200 tonnes reaches them; the rest is dumped by the roadside, empty sites and tank beds.
Earlier, the KSPCB booked criminal cases against garbage transporters when they dumped solid waste near forests in Bannerghatta . The transporters confessed they had no clear instructions from the BBMP where to dump the garbage, Sharathchandra said.
Sources said transporters are taking garbage to the plants which are convenient to them. Of the five, the Mandur plant, where the BBMP has leased 135 acres, has a capacity of 1,000 tonnes. However, it receives only 250-300 tonnes per day. The Mavalipura plant also has a 1,000-tonne capacity, but receives just 100 tonnes. The Rajarajeshwarinagar unit and Mahadevapura units are running to their full capacity of 200 tonnes each.
However, the Doddaballapura plant, which has a 1,000-tonne capacity doesnt receive even a single truckload of garbage. The unit has been set up by Terra Farma by purchasing land. The firm had also laid down the condition that all trucks carrying solid waste there should be fitted with GPS.
However, BBMP hasnt sent even a single truck. Every time we inquire about peoples complaints, BBMP officials say they were sending the garbage to Terra Farma, but it never reaches there, Sharathchandra said.

STERLING EXAMPLE

Having onsite SWM unit is not an alien concept. A few builders have already installed this on their premises. Nirman Shelters has been doing it for the past six years. Its executive director Bharath Raj said that having a SWM unit was actually cost effective. We grow vegetables in the layouts and in apartments, the farmers collect the organic manure manufactured by the unit. Otherwise , well have to pay for disposing the waste. Having a disposal unit works very well for us, he said.

SWM IN NUMBERS



Area:

1% of built-up area

Cost:

1.5% of investment

(Source: Engg division, Nirman Shelters)