Ask any Bengalurean what the five most serious issues the city is facing, and there will be a close competition between garbage and traffic for first place. Eventually, garbage will win by a whisker! Such is the brutal impact of garbage on the minds and eyes of the people in India’s Silicon Valley. Despite the fact that the city boasts offices for ISRO, HAL, BEL and thousands of IT and BT companies making huge technological advancements, it is still reeling under the ever-increasing garbage mess. Visuals across the city are an unwelcome sight. Heaps of garbage lying on road sides, in drains, in lake beds, in empty land/plots, under the flyovers, and near slums and schools are indeed common and an almost-accepted norm. Added to the garbage is the construction and demolition (C&D) waste, which is one of the biggest contributors to chronic air pollution in the city. All this painfully paints a very grim and dirty picture of Bengaluru and mocks at the city’s inability to treat its garbage. Bengaluru city has the most vibrant civil society, activists, NGOs and corporate participation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that irrespective of who is in power, the collaborative approach between the BBMP and state government with the citizens and NGOs has always existed. Given all this, why such a vibrant city is crumbling under the constantly increasing garbage crisis is a question worth asking. No one can deny the challenges in managing and treating Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and C&D Waste, but technically speaking, Bengaluru neither planned for its growth nor its garbage. For years, waste was transported to dumping yards in the outskirts of the city to keep the city clean. When villagers revolted against the badly planned dumping yards and the environmental damage it was causing, BBMP hurriedly made alternative plans to address the garbage issue. But by then, the infamous garbage mafia that has allegedly been thriving under the guise of garbage transport with the apparent full support of elected representatives cutting across party lines had made firm inroads into the garbage contracts. The High Court and National Green Tribunal orders have neither stopped most of the Bengaluru garbage from reaching landfills, nor is there 100% segregation, nor can Bengaluru Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) claim 100% compliance of garbage tenders. Tender norms are allegedly diluted as the stronghold of the mafia does not allow fresh bidders for garbage contracts, and each time BBMP is muzzled and forced to go for ad-hoc contracts in most of the constituencies and wards. On one hand, there are massive awareness campaigns on Waste Segregation, Composting, Dry Waste Collection Centers (DWCC), Plastic Ban, Black-Spot fixing taken up by BBMP along with citizens and NGOs. But on the other hand, most of the garbage reaches the landfills, and yet there are heaps of uncleared garbage across the city. The missing piece between the desired result and the current status is the flawed and broken collection system. ACT i.e. Awareness, Collection, Treatment are the three critical pieces of a comprehensive MSW management process, and a missing piece only means a breakdown in the entire process, which BBMP is either not willing to accept or is unable to fix. Today, door-to-door waste collection is not only uneven, it is also unjustified, class-driven and composition driven. With the three-vendor system, one for bulk generators, one for commercial and one for households, what falls between these three vendors are thousands of small shops, canteens, PGs, vegetable shops, street vendors etc., which mostly operate in residential areas, thereby are not considered or owned up by any of the three vendors. Bengaluru is a 24/7 city, and our waste collection is extremely narrow, due to which people dump their garbage anywhere and everywhere as they leave for work just to avoid dogs tearing up the garbage cans in front of their homes The class-driven collection is rampant; revenue pockets, slums, poorer areas are the least priority for BBMP. Residents there are allowed to dump waste on their own in a few places, which BBMP terms as 'points.' It is 100% mixed waste and gets cleared outside the collection system. Value or composition of the waste is given more importance by the collection person; hence meat waste or vegetable waste is not collected in time, which in turn ends up on roadsides or drains during the night or early mornings. Firstly, 100% collection is the only way to assess the quantity and quality of waste generated each day and to keep the city clean without black-spots or points. This also ensures that there are drastic changes in the city and lesser visual eyesore. Secondly, 100% decentralization of MSW management can indeed make local ward administration more responsible and proactive, without them getting away by sending ward waste to other wards or villages. And it is proven that smaller quantities of waste can be managed better, and volume game is never a solution for MSW management as there are no benefits of scale. Thirdly, technology intervention has to be explored to the fullest, when technology is solving so many problems, it’s impossible to fathom why technology interventions are not considered to address the MSW management process. Waste processing has to have multiple solutions based on the composition of waste, and technology plays an important role in creating synergy between all pieces of “ACT”. BBMP is wasting a lot of public money on primitive ideas like garbage marshals, making it more person dependent and not system driven. Hence, the first logical step to address the dirty picture of Bengaluru garbage begins with collection, collection, collection. Acknowledging the actual quantity and quality of waste generated by the city can lead to more focused solutions and better management of MSW. Views expressed are the author's own. Kavitha Reddy is a lake activist, a Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Awardee and a spokesperson for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
