The draft Solid Waste Management bylaws 2018 for municipalities and municipal corporations notified by the Directorate of Municipal Administration has taken some of the best practices evolved in Bengaluru to other cities in the State. These include ward committee oversight on waste management, assigning the responsibility of waste to bulk generators, introduction of shuchi mitras, and three-way segregation of waste at source.
However, it has come under severe criticism for excluding pourakarmikas and waste-pickers. The wording of the draft is such that it allows for the entry of contractors despite a Cabinet decision on direct payment to pourakarmikas. For instance, it defines people involved in Solid Waste Management in the urban local body area as ‘agent/agency’ — a company, society or an empanelled vendor appointed or authorised by an ULB to act on its behalf.
“The State government has clearly decided to weed out contractors and directly pay pourakarmikas. It is already being implemented in the State. However, the draft bylaws do not define a pourakarmika at all. It lets in contractors through the back door as agent/agency. This subverts the entire system,” said Lekha Adavi, BBMP Guttige Pourakarmikara Sangha.
Another criticism is its exclusion of waste-pickers who have now been integrated into SWM, especially in the handling of dry waste.
“Waste pickers have traditionally played an important role in SWM in any city. Bengaluru and Pune have integrated them into the system. But the draft bylaws reverse this,” said Nalini Shekhar of Hasiru Dala, which is at the forefront of integrating waste-pickers into SWM in Bengaluru.
Street vendors
up in arms
The SWM Round Table, Bengaluru, held a stakeholder meeting and submitted their objections to the government. They argue that the draft bylaws have not integrated SWM Rules – 2016, Karnataka State Plastic Ban order 2016, Plastic Waste Management Rules – 2016 and Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014). “They have also skipped an important function of the municipal corporation, that of street sweeping and drain cleaning,” a member of SWMRT said.
Chapter VI of the draft bylaws, which deals with littering and public nuisance, imposes severe restrictions, including a ban on cooking, washing utensils, storage in public spaces, which directly affect street vendors.
“These norms are in direct violation of Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act, 2014), and we will challenge it in court. The minimum fine for violation is pegged at ₹2,500 while the Street Vendors Act clearly says no street vendor can be fined more than ₹2,000,” said Lekha Adavi, also a member of Bengaluru Jilla Beedi Badi Vyapari Sanghatanegala Okkoota.