BENGALURU, 1 DEC

Bengaluru, the tech capital of India, faces a garbage crisis and inconsistent waste segregation practices have left many areas struggling to manage the City's burgeoning waste problem.

Despite citizens' efforts to segregate their waste, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) workers allegedly mix it all together once collected.

"We segregate waste diligently, but the collectors dump it all together in the truck," Anupama Shetty, a college professor from Yelahanka told Salar News. “What’s the point of segregation if BBMP doesn’t follow through?” she added.

Dry waste collection centres, crucial to sorting and recycling waste, are also in short supply. There are only 164 centres across the City even though 198 are needed.

South Zone: The biggest waste generator—10,00,000 kg garbage daily

 According to BBMP, across the City's eight zones — East, West, South, Yelahanka, Bommanahalli, Mahadevapura, RR Nagar, and Dasarahalli — maximum waste is generated from the South, followed by East and West; the least waste generation is from Dasarahalli.

The South zone, home to the City’s largest population of 30 lakh, generates over 1,000 tonnes of waste daily. Among the most waste-generating areas in this zone is BTM Layout, which alone produces close to 300 tonnes of waste followed by Chickpet, Byatarayanapura, Chamarajpet, and Bommanahalli.

While many upscale neighbourhoods are adopting segregation, slums and unregulated areas lag. "Segregation rates in South zone hover around 50 per cent. The challenge is to bring informal settlements into the formal waste collection system," Rajesh Kumar, Health Inspector, South Zone told Salar News.

East zone: A hotspot for commercial waste – 8,00,000 kg garbage daily

The East zone, known for its commercial hubs such as Whitefield, Marathahalli, and Indiranagar, generates about 800 tonnes of waste daily. A large portion of this waste comes from offices, malls, and eateries, with mixed waste being a big challenge.

BBMP Assistant Executive Engineer Anand Reddy said, "Corporate entities have embraced waste segregation better than many residential areas."

Daily per capita waste generation from residential houses is pegged at 309g and 300g in slums. According to BBMP, 58.5 per cent of the waste generated is from households, 49.7 per cent from commercial establishments and 6.8 per cent from street sweeping.

West Zone: Market areas struggling to cope– 7,00,000 kg garbage daily

The West zone, home to KR Market, generates 700 tonnes of waste daily, dominated by wet waste from the market. Shivanna, a vegetable trader at KR Market told Salar News that the market is a mess after 11 am.

“BBMP workers collect waste in the morning but by noon, it’s back to square one. We’re constantly surrounded by flies and foul smells,” he said.

Rukmini K, Joint Health Officer for West Zone, claimed that the only way to solve the issue is via public awareness.

Rapid urbanisation in RR Nagar led to an increase in waste generation, now at 600 tonnes daily. Segregation remains a concern in these newly developed areas. Manjunath MS, a resident of Nayandahalli, said, “Due to inefficient garbage collection, residents have started using the stretch to discard their garbage.”

North zone: Residential, commercial areas see more garbage– 8,00,000 kg garbage daily

The North Zone, which includes commercial and but mainly residential areas such as KR Puram, Byatarayanapura, Yeshwanthapur, Dasarahalli, Mahalakshmi Layout, Malleshwaram, Hebbal, and Pulakeshinagar, generates approximately 600 to 800 tonnes of waste per day.

A senior engineer from the BBMP’s Solid Waste Management team, on the condition of anonymity, said, "The garbage problem persists due to poor transparency and accountability in the system."

Back-to-back setbacks

In 2023, BBMP floated 89 tenders for door-to-door garbage collection in 243 wards, at Rs 590 crore per year. It was put on hold indefinitely after the tenders’ faced allegations of collusion among bidders and the BBMP Garbage Contractors' Association blamed the BBMP for fixing low rates to help bidders.

This September, the government decided to send nearly half of the City's garbage to Doddaballapur, Bidadi, Mandur and Gollahalli. However, this was scrapped after protests from residents and local MLAs.

A major issue contributing to the poor garbage management is the lack of BBMP elections, which have not been held since 2020. This has led to infighting and a lack of accountability, with officials blaming each other for the garbage mess.

SM Krishna’s Singapore dream

Bengaluru has long sought solutions to its growing garbage problem. In 2000, then chief minister SM Krishna introduced a door-to-door garbage collection system, hoping to clean up Bengaluru and model it after the swanky Singapore. At the time, there was far less plastic packaging and waste generation was relatively low. However, as the City expanded, the waste challenge grew exponentially.

Where are the dustbins?

In 2017, BBMP acknowledged the failure of the door-to-door collection system, particularly in commercial and slum areas. Hence, it reintroduced garbage bins for segregating dry and wet waste for Rs 4 crore. Unfortunately, the City suffers from a dearth of dustbins.

A BBMP official told Salar News, “The dry and wet waste bins were introduced but are not in use in most places. This is because the City has been struggling with waste management for years.”

The way forward

BBMP Chief Tushar Girinath told Salar News that the civic agency is aiming to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills by introducing new waste processing facilities, including a waste-to-energy plant in Bidadi. This facility is expected to handle 600 tonnes of waste daily and generate 11.5 megawatts of power, he said.

BBMP proposed an increase in the solid waste management cess earlier this year. The proposal suggests raising monthly cess for households from Rs 30-50 to Rs 100.

BBMP has also submitted a proposal to the government to impose a cess of Rs 12 per kg of waste on bulk generators, such as apartments, hotels and malls.