BBMP drafts solid waste management by-laws

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike – Bengaluru’s municipal corporation – has drafted by-laws for Solid Waste Management (SWM), which mandate segregation of waste at source. It is in consonance with the civic administration’s vision plan to ensure complete segregation by the end of the year. Landfills cannot be used for unprocessed waste.

In a first, the by-laws define eight streams of waste: wet, dry, sanitary, non-recyclable non-biodegradable, domestic hazardous, construction and demolition and slaughterhouse waste, and lay down specific strategies for processing each stream. They focus on composting or any bio-stabilisation method for the processing of wet waste, and only allow for Waste to Energy (WtE) plants to process Refuse Derived Fuel. The government has inked deals for nine WtE plants, which if operationalised, will see Bengaluru have an installed capacity of 4,700 tonnes per day.

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However, the draft by-laws do not yet envisage separate collection streams to ensure that different kinds of waste don’t get mixed. A BBMP expert said that a door-to-door threestream system – separating wet, dry and sanitary waste – is on the anvil. Drop of points for other streams are envisaged.

The draft by-laws have also codified welfare measures for pourakarmikas (sanitation workers), integration of waste pickers and empowering ward committees to prepare a ward-wise plan for solid waste management.

The service agency responsible for collecting garbage should announce its arrival either by blowing a whistle or through a loudspeaker. The BBMP will also specify a day for doorto- door collection of bulky waste and horticulture and garden waste. BBMP will ensure door-to-door or point-to-point collection of e-waste on payment basis, at least once every two weeks. The onus will be on the BBMP to ensure that waste is not exposed and in the open while being transported, or visible to the public.

Leachate collected will not be dumped in stormwater drains, but will be disposed of scientifically. To monitor the collection and transportation of waste, the civic body will enable live GPS tracking of all SWM vehicles.