Focus likely on cleaner, greener Bengaluru

BENGALURU:  Following the High Court rebuking BBMP and asking whether the civic body was trying to make Bengaluru the dirtiest city in the country, the BBMP budget will reportedly focus on measures to make the city cleaner and greener.The city has had to deal with major issues regarding persistent black spots, lack of segregation of garbage at source, polluted lakes and loss of green cover, to name a few.According to BBMP sources, the civic body plans to carry out rain water harvesting within storm water drains, which will be done by construction of percolation pits in the drains. Another measure planned is the development of tree parks.

“Some of the existing BBMP parks will be developed into tree parks. Trees will planted instead of jogging tracks and ornamental plants will be planted in these parks,” the source said. Both these measures are expected to help improve the groundwater levels.The budget is also expected to announce funds to set up smaller bio-methane units at the ward level where smaller quantities of waste can be converted into manure. By doing this, BBMP plans to reduce the cost of transporting the waste to landfills outside the city.

N S Ramakanth, member, BBMP Expert Committee on Solid Waste, said more than allocation of funds, stricter implementation of existing rules and provision of incentives for following eco-friendly practices are needed. “BBMP needs to be more serious about the plastic ban, and about segregating garbage at source, which is a law now. In addition, they should go as far as possible for decentralisation of waste processing,” he said.

Akshay Heblikar, environmentalist and director of Eco Watch, reckons there are some basic things which need improvement, such as placement of garbage bins. He said although the BBMP placed the bins, they needed to be placed in more areas. “More focus is needed on disposal of e-waste, as people still do not know where to dispose them,” he added.