The failure of citizens to segregate garbage at source has started to hit the waste processing infrastructure the city has added in the last two years.
Violating the embargo by the expert committee on solid waste management (SWM), the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been sending mixed waste to all the six plants, putting them in jeopardy, say experts.
Following the closure of Terra Firma (a composting unit that had effectively turned into a landfill) in Doddaballapur on April 1, BBMP had identified four abandoned stone quarries to dump mixed waste. However, it has been able to send around 150 tonnes of waste daily only to the quarry in Bellahalli, off Yelahanka. The civic body has been unable to convince villagers around the other three quarries in Mittaganahalli, Kannur and Kada Agrahara to allow dumping of waste.
Left with no other option, BBMP has been sending mixed waste to the processing plants. This is a repeat of September last year when the civic body dumped mixed waste in the plants even before their inauguration after the landfill at S. Bingipura was closed following protests by locals.
Overloaded
According to BBMP sources, the processing plants are being overloaded, and this has resulted in a pile-up, foul odour and spread of health-related problems.
“The MSGP plant in Chigarenahalli, Doddaballapur, has almost turned into a dump yard because of this. We had similar issues at the KCDC plant in HSR Layout. If the separated ‘dry waste’ is not removed from the plants in a month, the plants will turn into dump yards, inviting protests from locals,” said N.S. Ramakanth, member, SWM expert committee, BBMP.
The committee had suggested that instead of sending mixed waste to the six processing plants and jeopardising them all, the waste could be sent only to one of the 500-tonne plants. BBMP is yet to implement this suggestion.
Subodh Yadav, special commissioner, SWM, said the plants have mechanical sieves to segregate mixed waste. At the same time, segregation at the plants is based on the size of waste particles rather than their nature, which leaves a lot to be desired.
He insisted that there is no real alternative to segregation at source.
Civic officials insist that there is no replacement for segregation at source
