BBMP

Garbage contractor S Ramachandra Reddy is in charge of Bellandur ward (150) since December 2009. Bellandur is in the south-eastern outskirts of Bengaluru, and falls under BBMP's Mahadevapura Zone. Reddy's track record has been extremely poor and yet he stays on, and even talks of the new contract coming up this year. Contract workers shifting garbage from autos to tipper lorry at Haralur road, near Kaikondanahalli lake. Pic Navya P K. Mamatha, Environment Engineer, BBMP (Mahadevpura zone) says that there have been many complaints about this contractor. "When public complain to us about specific instances, we attend to those promptly.…

Bengalureans have come to expect that at every corner they turn, they will be met with a wide heap of garbage.  They have also come to accept that Pourakarmikas themselves will dump their melange of garbage on the ground. What Bengalureans are not aware of is that this manner of collecting unsegregated garbage and transferring it manually, with the garbage exposed to the environment, is in total violation of the Ministry of Environment & Forests' Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules of 2000.  What Bengalureans also do not know is that behind this ‘gawd-awful' system of collecting garbage lurks one more…

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BBMP) proposed tender draft for solid waste management (SWM) in the city includes levying a cess for garbage collection. The implementation of the cess has thrown up more questions than answers, leaving citizens wondering about whether the BBMP was serious about the measure.  N S Ramakanth, DC (Revenue), BBMP, confirmed to Citizen Matters that the cess will be collected from April 2011 itself, along with property tax. "There will be a new form for this, its format has been finalised already." Since advance property tax payment is accepted in April only, there is no issue…

With segregation and composting, communities in Bengaluru are successfully making their surroundings zero-waste zones. Sadashivnagar, LIC Colony in Jayanagar and Ferns Paradise – a gated community near Marathahalli – shared their stories at ‘Love my city; manage my waste’ - an event on community composting held by waste management solutions company Daily Dump on February 20th. Citizen Matters and Apartment Adda were partners for this event. Working together, these communities have minimized waste, turned waste into resource and in the process, help BBMP garbage contract workers earn extra money. Green Diamond, Diamond District complex, Domlur Shalini Khanna Charles of Project…

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has notified the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011. In Bengaluru, the ban will be in effect from today.Banning thin plastic bags and charging consumers is only the first step. BBMP has announced plans to setup waste segregation and plastic collection centres in ward. Some points covered by the centre's notification.• Plastic carry bags shall either be white or only with those pigments and colourants which are in conformity with the bar prescribed by  the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). • Plastic carry bags shall not be less than 40 microns in thickness.…

I've written about the Tabebuia argentea and the Jacaranda blooms welcoming summer into the city....but another sight, that is full of colour, but that is far less welcome, is one that's started staring me in the eye: Water and power shortages are here, with no apologies on the part of the Government.⊕

I was travelling back from Delhi when I saw a young man, also boarding for the same flight, who had an interesting looking trophy with him: I said hello to him, congratulated him because he had obviously won something, and asked what it was about. "This is the trophy that Karnataka won this year, for the best float in the Republic Day Parade," he replied. "We've won it a few times in the past, and if we win three years running, the rolling trophy will become ours." Having, rather uncharacteristically, missed watching the Republic Day Parade this year as I…

The work for tar road began, in December 2009. As part of that, the work for drains along the road, though started from scratch, has been going on in rounds, changing the course of the drain thrice. The work came to a halt with out proper cover for drains. Lack of proper planning before starting the work was quite apparent. A short drain running across of the road, opened for clearing the blockage because of debris and wasn't covered since then, has been big trouble for all the passing vehicles, especially four wheelers, and pedestrians when it rains, at nights,…

Citizens of Sagayapuram (Ward 60) of Bangalore recently prepared their own programme of works for their ward.  They had wanted - among other wishes - community toilets, nursery school renovation and footpaths for 24 lakh rupees, but the BBMP sanctioned 27 lakhs just for street name-boards. This shows the stark lack of community participation in decision-making even 18 years after the passage of the 74th Constitutional  Amendment (74th CAA) or Nagarapalika Act, which  mandated "Power to the People" in urban areas.  Karnataka's Community Participation Bill Amendments that do nothing to strengthen community participation The 74th CAA was to bring in decentralisation, proximity, transparency, accountability…

If a new road in your neighbourhood is desperately needed or the local BBMP contractor is burning waste locally instead of transporting it, or if you want to use your ward's BBMP funds to spruce up a rundown local playground, what will you do? Where will you start? You'll likely talk to your residents association office bearers and then one of them or you directly will try to reach your BBMP ward councillor. But let's face it. There are roughly 25000-50000 residents in a ward. How many such requests will your councillor be able to handle? Besides, councillors have their…