For a city that boasts of IT hegemony in the country, Bangalore has a dismal record of garbage management. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP), whose obligatory function is to collect, transport and dispose of the municipal solid waste (MSW), is apparently caught up in the politics of one-upmanship.
On the garbage management, Rs 90 crore is spent annually. Recently, the chief minister B S Yeddyurappa commented that garbage contractors were a mafia. The contractors say they are being harassed by the officials without giving them adequate facility to dispose off the garbage. Here is an attempt to understand the riddle.
The MSW Story
The city generates about 3500 metric tonnes per day (MTD) or about 700 truck loads of MSW from house holds, markets, hotels and other commercial establishments. Before Greater Bangalore was formed, the Palike had floated tenders for collection and disposal of garbage in the 100 wards by constituting 30 packages of contracts. The annual cost of the services was estimated to be Rs 90 crore.
Sanitation Updates 