The changing faces of Bengaluru garbage

by Sudarshani & Akshara DM

Silicon city Bengaluru has always been a land of opportunities and the city has witnessed a large influx of population not just from the same state but from other states as well. This has its consequences and the results are evident in the cityscape.

Garbage dumped on a road in Bengaluru Picture Credits: Anjitha Eldho

The unplanned urbanisation to accommodate the large influx of population is pointed out as one of the reasons for silicon valley that gave it the infamous tag ‘Garbage city’, whereas the negligence of its citizens towards maintaining the cleanliness of the city is another.

“This is all the result of rapid, unchecked urbanization. There is a difference between Bangalore which was there and what it is now. It is a disappointing difference.”

Students from the Mass Communication and Journalism department of St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Bangalore, recently participated in an online campaign ‘letBLRbreathe’ on Twitter, the campaign was launched as part of the course curriculum for a period of one month.

The students took to Twitter, to talk about the improper disposal of waste on the streets of Bengaluru, many BBMP officials were tagged in the tweets of students who demanded action to be taken. Here are some tweets from the ‘letBLRbreathe’ campaign.

Riya Joseph, a second-year student from Mass Communication and Journalism tweeted, "Some people really out here using Bangalore as a personal trash can. #LetBLRBreathe."

“A bike came by, threw the trash and disappeared. An auto came by, did the same thing. Disappeared. NOT COOL. #letblrbreathe,” tweeted Iswarya Laksmi, another student from MA MCJ.

Akshara DM, another student and a member of Nimma Uru Bengaluru, wrote on Twitter, “Hey @BBMPCOMM! Looks like this public notice went unnoticed. We still see staple pins, nails, flash cards, illegal name boards, cable wires on trees. What's your next move? #letBLRBreathe #BBMP.”

“From construction waste to food waste, the roads of Bangalore littered with garbage piles. Hope @SwmrtBengaluru looks into this! #LetBLRBreathe,” tweeted Athul Madhav.

Worrinphi Ronra Shimray tweeted, “As I was walking to college this morning I saw a pile of trash dumped at the corner of the road. Let's be responsible citizens, and dispose our waste at dumping sites #LetBLRBreathe.”

An article titled ‘Bangalore’s Toxic Legacy’, by the Environment Support Group reported that Waste Processing Units such as the Solid Waste Management (SWM) facilities in Bangalore became the major sources of pollution, they also affected the quality of air and groundwater in the city.

Solid Waste Management facilities lacked odour control filters, which lead to the spreading of strong stench from these facilities causing discomfort to the residents living nearby. The residents demanded the closure of the waste management facility Karanataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC). Not just a strong stench the residents also witnessed smoke coming out of the waste management facilities.

In 2016, National Green Tribunal had imposed a complete ban on the burning of waste in open spaces. The problem still persists even after BBMP imposed heavy fines. The burning of solid municipal waste releases toxic gases which contribute to the increase of particulate matter in the air.

In February 2021, the State Level committee’s chairman Subhash B. Adi of the National Green Tribunal had directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to submit a plan of action to achieve 100% segregation of waste at source and to comply with the Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016. BBMP has asked for an extension of the deadline by filing an affidavit in the High Court.

Chirag S, co-founder of Team Hasiru a city-based non-governmental organization speaks to Nimma Uru Bengaluru about the unplanned rapid urbanization, diminishing greenery and the possible solution to it.

Invoking the IISC reports and the research conducted by their team Chirag says, “Bangalore was covered with almost 70% with greenery, the present Bangalore is completely urbanized, today we’re standing in 2.66% of greenery throughout Bangalore so we've reduced greenery in 50 years by more than 60% if this continues I don't think the city will be liveable.”

He further added, “This is all the result of rapid, unchecked urbanization. There is a difference between Bangalore which was there and what it is now. It is a disappointing difference.”

Highlighting the waste management problem, Chirag points out that Bangalore is not able to make up for the facilities required for this huge population, “The most evident problem now is garbage, due to the vast number of people are residing here. It generates tons and tons of garbage, which should be managed in a highly sophisticated manner. It’s not just the municipality that has to be involved all the citizens must be involved, a vigilance group must be present in every layout.”

“When you are going in a lift which has a capacity of 10 people and you try to fit in 25 people, is this possible? no. The lift gets overloaded, overworked, and spoiled faster, so that is what is happening in Bangalore. The city is not able to handle the growth in population,” he illustrates with an anecdote.

The green NGO co-founder feels that a decentralised solution at the ward and layout level can be a possible solution to the garbage disposal problem.

Written by Sudarshani and Akshara DM