The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will collect segregated streams of waste from households and transport them to processing centres in separate containers.
Tenders for door-to-door collection of waste had been floated in 168 wards. Though the tender process is complete, work orders are yet to be issued. Now, the contractor will be responsible for collection of wet and dry waste in separate containers.
Earlier, the BBMP had envisaged collection of wet waste daily and dry waste twice a week by ragpickers manning Dry Waste Collection Centres. This was opposed by several councillors. But, the BBMP had maintained that separate collection is mandated under SWM Rules, 2016. Now, this action plan, which was formulated by the Congress-Janata Dal (S) alliance, has been scrapped by the ruling BJP.
Mayor M. Goutham Kumar told reporters on Tuesday that the Indore model will be implemented in five wards on a pilot basis. Auto tippers will have separate containers for wet and dry waste. The contractors, who have bagged the new tenders, will be asked to incorporate design changes in the vehicles for collection of different streams of waste.
BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar said that it is easy to monitor one contractor who collects both wet and dry waste. He said the BBMP's decision had been communicated to the new contractors, who had conveyed their assent for the same. All garbage collection vehicles will have RFID tags, based on which the BBMP will have data on households that are giving segregated waste. It will also be able to track the door-to-door collection process.
The BBMP was also contemplating changing the time of garbage clearance in commercial areas. This, Mr. Anil Kumar explained, was because many commercial establishments opened after the streets are cleaned around 8.30 a.m. “They were found to be dumping waste after opening their establishments,” he said.
