The garbage disposal crisis in the city may have left many in the state government with little options to grapple with, but according to Environment Support Group member, Leo Saldanha, the solution lies in the decentralisation of waste management.
Saldanha believes that the right way to waste management is to learn from the successful methods developed by NGOs working in the field. “The city generates about 5,000 tonnes of solid waste daily. Much of this waste is organic and can and should be composted. Mandating segregation of waste at source is clearly possible. Another way is to incentivise composting at source for individual homes/businesses and promote community composting units,” said Saldanha.
Another way to stop the situation from repeating itself is through mandatory composting by bulk generators. “All bulk generators must be forced to compost at source without exception and as per standards,” he said.
He also believes that the current practice of collecting waste from across the city and dumping it in landfills (both approved and illegal) has to be comprehensively dismantled. “Evidence over the past decade indicates that this system breeds corruption, offers little or no benefit to public health and environment,” he said. Most importantly, he said that there should be a mandated decentralised waste management with support from BBMP with emphasis on waste management within ward. Saldanha also said that the rights of pourakarmikas and waste pickers should be protected and their services should be professionalised, provided tenure and operated under BBMP control.
Another tip offered by Saldanha was to allow only inert material to be landfilled with tipping fee per MSW rules. “Recycling must be undertaken locally, and only inert material must be landfilled per MSW Rules,” he said adding that Service Level Benchmarks (SWM) and Waste Information Systems ought to be integrated. “BBMP must immediately institute Public Education and Waste Information Systems, in active collaboration with not for profit initiatives that have evolved this systems to a very high level of practicality, and ensure that every household, public institution becomes partners in this process of making Bangalore a city that makes value out of waste,” Saldanha added.
