NGT panel pulls up BBMP on waste handling

BENGALURU: Members of the National Green Tribunal on solid waste management on Tuesday pulled up Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials for poor management of waste in the city, despite repeated timelines and assistance. At a review meeting, where Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) officials too were present, NGT Committee Chairman, Justice Subhash B Adi, directed the BBMP to immediately stop dumping mixed waste into landfills and ensure proper segregation. 

“Wherever BBMP intends to dispose of rejects into landfills, jurisdictional regional officers of KSPCB will inspect the waste and after it is confirmed that it contains only rejects and no mixed waste can it be dumped at landfills. The BBMP should take immediate action to install leachate treatment plants at all waste-processing plants and landfills and an action plan should be submitted within 30 days.

As the waste segregation percentage is very poor, the BBMP should achieve 100 per cent segregation ward wise by March 31 and must submit an action plan within 10 days. The Palike must take immediate action for bio-mining of legacy waste at waste-processing sites as per CPCB guidelines and complete it within March 31. An action plan should be submitted within 15 days,” said the order, a copy of which is with TNIE.

While BBMP officials tried to reason and explain ground problems, the NGT Committee was not pleased. To manage waste better, Justice Adi directed BBMP to tie up with the agricultural department to dispose of compost generated at waste processing plants. He was unhappy with BBMP not showing adequate progress in disposing of solid waste as per SWM Rules, 2016.

He pointed out that a maximum of three years was fixed to implement the rules to set up the processing facility and sanitary landfills at local bodies with over 5 lakh population. The rules also specify source segregation, reuse, recycle and recovery (as per definition of Rule 2(57) of SWM rules. But even five years of passage of rules, they are yet to be implemented in Bengaluru, which is a violation, he pointed out.