Vendor’s empanelment: A substitute to private contractors

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike that has made a proposal for vendor’s empanelment, is soon expected to become a substitute for private contractors engaged in waste management. According to the proposal, the authorized garbage collectors will scare up the waste from the doorsteps in exchange of a nominal fee. This will help the residents look beyond the private contractors.

According to BBMP notifications, apartments which have more than 50 residential units are tagged as domestic bulk generators. The notification focused on the mandatory rule that the bulk generators are required to make sure systematic and scientific segregation of waste inside their premises or a garbage disposal arrangement can be made at their own cost. In addition to the notification, the bulk generators can also acquire the services of empanelled agencies with a mutual consent.

The issue

In what has been reviewed as one of the major issues regarding garbage disposal in the Garden City, dumping waste in a proper place have become a rising concern. According to the residents of some of the prime localities of Bangalore, the Pourakarmikas do not pick up waste from the doorsteps. Instead, the residents dump the garbage at a vacant location, from where it is collected by the BBMP garbage trucks. The proposed vendor’s empanelment is a step taken by the government to deal with this issue.

According to the residents of some localities, the garbage collectors are not properly schooled on effective waste segregation. In addition to it, the collectors demand for extra money on various occasions, which is quite common these days. Lack of BBMP’s move in prescribing the fee for the collectors have made matters worse.

The step taken

In view of the rising issue for waste segregation, few big apartment complexes are managing the waste single-handedly. For instance, few large apartment complexes on Sarjapur Road that have more than 300 flats produce around 150 kg of dry waste, 70 kg of inerts and 280 kg of wet waste on an average.

While wet waste is fertilized, dry waste is sold out to the dry waste collection centers of BBMP. Such centers earn nearly Rs 5000 on an average by selling dry waste. The waste segregation unit of BBMP is also upgraded and equipped with necessary tools for effective waste management.