Let's not trash Bangalore: Segregate, by teaming up

There are just three more days to go for the mandatory segregation of waste imposed by the BBMP to ensure that the city is able to manage the garbage it generates.

For the success of this exercise, the Palike, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs), solid waste management experts and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are making all-out efforts.

This is the first time segregation of waste at source is going to be done in such a large scale in the country.

If the exercise succeeds, it could serve as a model for other cities. If it fails, the city will continue to frequently raise a stink.

While the BBMP continues to work on the information kit that includes videos, pamphlets, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and so on, NGOs and RWAs are conducting  awareness drives in their own wards.

On Tuesday, Ravi Kumar, Anjana Iyer and the team from Full Circle and Green Technologies visited more than 150 homes in Sanjay Nagar along with pourakarmikas (conservancy staff) and distributed reusable bags to store dry waste in.

“Through this effort, we wanted to create awareness among pourakarmikas and citizens on segregation of waste. By visiting homes, we met family members who had doubts about the segregation method. We were able to clear their doubts at an individual level,” said Kumar S.

CM Subbaiah, president of the Federation of Bangalore North-East Residents’ Welfare Association, said while Kalyan Nagar First Block had been segregating waste for the past decade, there were people who did not bother to segregate.

The problem, he said, was not the lack of awareness but the hesitation to make a change. “They know about segregation but they do not want to do it. Segregation requires you to break away from years of a habit of simply disposing of waste without a second thought on what happens with the waste. More than the effort in segregating itself, it is this mental effort that people do not want to make,” he said.

However, the association will be distributing pamphlets to all homes in the area requesting residents to segregate waste and how to do it.

If segregation at source is to work, it should start with pourakarmikas.

Hence, NGOs  are educating pourakarmikas through workshops and by accompanying them during their daily rounds of garbage collection.

Hasiru Dala, students of Jain Univeristy, Radio Active and other NGOs are training pourakarmikas in HSR Layout, Gottigere and Bommanahalli.

“We hope to train at least 1,000 pourakarmikas. As the first point of contact,  they have to be empowered to refuse mixed garbage,” said Pinky Chandra of Radio active, who is also a member of Hasiru Dala. Hasiru Dala conducted an awareneness campaign for merchants on JC Road.

“A lot of their waste is dry, electronic waste which is produced in bulk. It is important that these are disposed of correctly as it could also be toxic and hazardous,” Chandra said.

Radio Active is also preparing jingles, dramas and FAQs to explain the process of segregation.