Residents showing way to manage waste
Garbage disposition has always been a challenge for the municipal corporations of the big cities. With the huge amount of waste being generated each day, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been trying to address the issue of waste disposal for some time now.
Segregate the waste:
In a bid to manage the waste, the civic body has come up with a diktat that makes it mandatory for residents to segregate the waste into dry waste and wet waste. BBMP has framed the solid waste management bylaws which says that all citizens must segregate garbage at source and not dump the waste in either plastic or non-biodegradable bags. The mixed garbage creates health hazards after they are being dumped in the near by landfills. Hence, the civic authority has zeroed in their emphasis upon waste segregation.
Levy penalty:
The BBMP proposes to levy a fine of Rs 500 on citizens who burn garbage and those who do not 
segregate meat wastes. As BBMP sets a deadline of October 1 for residents to start segregating waste, residents of few pockets of the city has been showing the ways to manage waste in a systematic manner.
WoW project:
Residents of Koramangala 3rd Block has been able to transform the garbage scene of the area. Thanks to a group “Wealth off Waste” (WoW), the residents of the area are segregating dry waste into reusable bags. The WoW project got associated with ‘Saahas’, an NGO specialising in waste management and the waste is being re-cycled. In an year almost 15 tonnes of waste have been re-cycled rather than being dumped in landfills.
The project got initiated with a concrete and prolonged efforts of volunteers, who have been collecting waste every Saturday without a miss and trying to make it a habit among residents to keep their waste in a plastic bag. About a year later, the results are out in the open.
The residents have been happy with the outcome as they no longer have to put up with stinking waste and the amount of waste has come down to a significant level. The waste collectors are also happy with the fact that they have been able to earn over Rs 50,000 from re-cycling of the waste.
The success story of Koramangala 3rd Block can be a model for waste segregation through out the city. The WoW project has demonstrated that the residents can segregate the waste at their households with ease and with awareness among citizens the city can keep the hazards of waste at bay.
