Adhere to plastic ban or face cancellation of trade licences: BBMP

BENGALURU: The BBMP council has decided to cancel trade licences of establishments and manufacturers using plastic.
Identifying spots outside the city limits for landfills and composting centres, and inviting ward-level tenders for all processes related to solid waste management were the other resolutions passed by the council at a special meeting convened on Saturday. The resolutions will be enforced with immediate effect.

The corporators suggested that any contractor bagging the tender should only serve in five wards to ensure optimal efficiency. This includes all processes pertaining to end-to-end waste management.

Sarfaraz Khan, joint commissioner (health and solid waste management), said while the ban on plastic is already in place, the new resolution specified cancellation of licences. “We’re already implementing the ban by conducting raids two-three times a week. We now have the power to revoke trade licences. The high-end stores have stopped using plastic carry bags, it’s mainly the smaller vendors who continue to use it,” he said, adding that the BBMP had confiscated 1.5 tonnes of plastic and got Rs 40 lakh in penalty from January 2017 till date.

Number of pourakarmikas

The issue of fixing the 700:1 ratio of people to pourakarmikas was also discussed at the meet.

Basavanagudi ward corporator BS Satyanarayana sought clarity from the officials regarding the number of pourakarmikas being paid by the BBMP in the wake of a direction from the government that all those employed for less than a year must be paid their dues and relieved of duty. “At least 18 pourakarmikas working for less than a year in my ward have been told to stop coming for work. They have not been paid and are still reporting for work in the hope that they will get paid,” he said.

Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy said measures should be taken to deal with animal waste from meat shops. “There can be a special taskforce dedicated to handling construction debris and meetings should be held every fortnight to discuss the progress on controlling plastic waste,” she said.

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‘Our livelihood affected’

Several pourakarmikas, who have been employed for less than a year, from Indiranagar and Gottigere wards were present outside the council hall. “We want this work and this is our only source of income. We’re unable to pay rent or electricity bills as we have not been paid for seven months. The officers have told our supervisor that we’re only eligible for three months of wages but we haven’t received that either. They are retaining pourakarmikas working for over a year, but we’ll also achieve that status soon if we’re allowed to work,” said Manjula, 28.