The solid waste management bill of the city seems to be only increasing by the year. The outlay for Garbage Disposal and SWM is ₹1066.88 crore, which accounts for 11.44% of the overall outlay. The SWM bill crossing the ₹1,000 crore mark has raised eyebrows among SWM activists.
“The SWM bill seems to be increasing, but the city isn’t getting any better,” said V. Ravichandar, member, BBMP Restructuring Committee, adding that the increase in bills even with contractors being weeded out is surprising.
Even though the 2017-18 budget earmarked ₹715.91 crore for the sector, the revised estimates submitted on Wednesday pegged the figure at ₹1061.25 crore. This led to the higher allocation in this budget, civic officials said.
A senior official added that the higher allocation ias due to direct payment to pourakarmikas.
This year, ₹50 crore each was earmarked for waste-to-energy plants in Kannahalli and Mavallipura.
Though the BBMP said that steps would be taken to set up decentralised composting units in all wards, as per orders of the High Court, there are no details of the project or any fund allocation.
The budget stipulates a ₹1 lakh fine for tractor-owners and ₹5 lakh fine for tipper lorries caught dumping waste in lakes and storm water drains.
