Representative picture Express
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Bengaluru, a global city housing 1.40 crore people, is wrestling with waste. It generates 6,000 tonnes of waste daily, but has just one active landfill and seven processing plants, most of which are not functioning because of technical issues and protests from local residents about their foul smell and health impacts. The only active landfill at Mitaganahalli, 40 km from the city, is also facing problems with nearby villagers demanding its closure due to malodour and waste leachate mixing with the groundwater and adulterating borewells, severely impacting health. This landfill was opened in 2012 after the earlier two at Mavallipura and Manduru had to be closed because of similar protests.
The city’s solid waste management problem was highlighted last week by Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also in charge of Bengaluru’s development, while replying to a question in the legislative council on delays in waste disposal. He said, “Solid waste management has become a mafia” and blamed “some MLAs” for blackmailing the government, and referred to the issue as a “big problem”. Coming from a senior minister, this is shocking. The National Green Tribunal mandated that all states and Union territories strictly adhere to Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. It directed the Central Pollution Control Board to ensure compliance with the rules on waste segregation and treatment through the state pollution control boards.
No city would need landfills if waste is scientifically processed, which is a lucrative industry by itself. Biomethanation and biomining can yield profits if waste management is carried out scientifically and processing plants used optimally. Metals, minerals, energy, biomass and extracts from organic and inorganic waste can be recycled. A Supreme Court order also makes it mandatory for construction debris to be recycled and not be sent to landfills. In short, there would be nothing to ‘waste’ if management of used and rejected materials is scientifically carried out. This understanding is not lost on administrators; Madhya Pradesh’s Indore has already shown the way. Yet, waste management remains a major concern for most Indian cities. It’s time for civic authorities across the country to take the ‘waste to wealth’ route to clean their cities. The penalty for failure could be extremely costly, lest we forget Surat’s September 1994 pneumonic plague or Mumbai’s killer deluge of July 2005.
