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The new Budget has been announced. For the first Budget with limited time, it is indeed a good one. Our Chief Minister  has said in the introduction that he intends to provide every citizen the bare necessities of life, a house, water in the tap, power, a road to the house, sewage facilities, education for children and safety for people and property. Ultimately this is what every citizen looks forward to and what we have not been able to achieve in the past 65 years. He has stated that he will ensure that taxpayers’ money is well-spent with no wastage,…

Apartments are bulk generators; we won't collect garbage from them. No, apartments are not bulk generators; we will collect waste from them. BBMP has been going back and forth on this issue for over two months now. As the December 1st deadline, for waste segregation at source is here, there is still no clarity on where the waste from the apartment complexes is going to go. Media reports have quoted BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel saying that apartments are now excluded from the bulk generators list. However BBMP's website has the notification dated October 1st, that has categorised apartments under bulk…

At Sobha Althea & Azalea, we are a motley group of women coming from various backgrounds. We were thinking of putting a waste management system in place even before the BBMP legislation came into force. But for some reasons, it didn't take off.The legislation was just the kind of nudge we needed to get going and start thinking about the HOWs and WHYs. How to startNon-negotiablesNegotiablesTraining A string of meetings helped us frame certain guidelines for our own residential community while keeping in mind the larger picture: A waste-free zone. Housekeeping staff are key to the success of any waste…

National Games Village has taken a lead in creating a sustainable zero waste community. Tungabhadra block in the games village have been actively involved in managing the waste their homes generate within their complex for the past three months. It all started with inspiration from Vellore Srinivasan, who has 16 years of experience in implementing Zero Waste Management (ZWM) Projects and the non-profit group AID India coming forward to fund the initial cost of implementing ZWM in NGV. Segregating waste With tremendous support from residents, volunteers and the association, they kickstarted something that today can proudly be a shining example…

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…

Most of us dutifully place the garbage bag outside the front door every morning or night and rush back in to line the dustbin with a fresh plastic bag. With this, we think we have done our job with waste disposal and the rest is a headache better dealt by the local municipality. Later in the day, when we see overflowing bins, garbage strewn all over the roads and pavements, we criticise the corrupt bureaucracy without losing an instant. It doesn’t even cross our minds that we too are to be blamed for the sordid state of affairs. Digest this:…