December 2010

Another Mega Month!

It's been another bumper month for the SWMRT with the launch of dry waste collection centres at both the BBMP and BDA offices AND the clean up/awareness drive in Russell Market.  The city is benefiting enormously from everyone's commitment and drive to keeping waste management top of the agenda.  Not only are we making waves at government and council offices, but the media is following us closely and regularly reporting on the work we are doing, resulting in more awareness and credibility for our campaign!  Thanks to everyone for making this happen!

Just days ago, members of SWMRT attended the inauguration of the BDA's head office waste collection centre, presided over by Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena.  The three-acre site is home to more than 800 BDA officers, receives more than 600 visitors per day, and generates huge amounts of waste.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Meena said that the biowaste will be converted to manure, while all the recyclable waste, including paper and plastic, will be picked up by recyclers from the premises. “The waste management programme is intended to change the existing habit of throwing and disposing waste and to adopt better waste management practices, which starts with segregation at source,” he said.

BBMP Welcomes SWMRT

Mid-November saw the inauguration of their own collection centre at the BBMP's campus, which is spread over five acres and serves 1,000 people per day.  At the inauguration, BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah commended the SWMRT for its initiative on the garbage segregation which will be taken up across the City.

SWMRT member, Dr. Meenakshi Bharath, acknowledged the commitment of the Commissioner in highlighting the problem of garbage menace.  She and Mr. Ramakanth have trained the various staff working on site, including housekeepers and gardeners.  Keep it up BDA and BBMP! Your example is important for the city of Bangalore!

Month at a Glance

So, just what else has the Solid Waste Management Roundtable Bengaluru been doing this month?  

Russell Market Cleans Up

At nearly 90 years old, Russell Market is still going strong but while being famous for its fresh produce and meat, it's charmed has faded slightly, in no small part due to the amount of waste in the area.  So the SWMRT set about educating the shopkeepers and held an awareness campaign on November 14th.  

The SWMRT's aim is to decentralise the waste collection, ensuring at segregation of dryand wet waste

which would result in only 8-10% of the total waste generated reaching the land fill. Stickers were given to shopkeepers with inscriptions of dry and wet waste and each shopkeeper was told to have two dustbins —one for dry and the other for wet waste. The advantage of this process is that the dry waste can be recycled later and used, while the wet waste comes in handy as manure for plants as well as in the production of gas.

STOP PRESS

Just this week members of the SWMRT met with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) which has now officially designated us as environmental wardens! This is HUGE news for the city and a great achievement for SWMRT! The KSPCB has agreed to issue a circular to all bulk generators

to segregate their waste not only into wet and dry, but further into categories of paper/plastic, glass, metal, e-waste, and only waste that does not fall into those categories may be handed over to the BBMP/garbage contractor. We will also work closely with the KSPCB to continue education of key waste producers, such as market associations, automobile part

manufacturers, and all types of industries going forward. And, of course, the KPSCB Head Office will convert to segregation at source. One IMMEDIATE step is that Bangalore citizens can now report all illegal dumping to SWMRT, who will hand over these reports to KSPCB for further action. Now there's NO EXCUSE to keep your area clean and garbage free!

Julie McGuire
+91 99456 91533
editorcleansheet@me.com 

SWMRT Hotline
T: +91 99161 02848
E: swmrt.bengaluru@gmail.com