Blackspots down by a quarter across Bengaluru in 6 months

Bengaluru: There was a 28% reduction in garbage blackspots across the city in the past six months, with the number dropping from 1,144 in Sept 2025 to 823 in Feb 2026, according to data from Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML).Officials said the decline reflects sustained solid waste management interventions across multiple city corporations, though the pace and nature of action have varied across regions.
While west and south Bengaluru showed sharper corrections in clearing chronic dumping points through enforcement and coordinated clean-up drives, the central and northern zones intensified monitoring and infrastructure-led responses to tackle persistent garbage hotspots.In Bengaluru West city corporation's jurisdiction, blackspots declined sharply from 281 to 190. Localities such as Rajajinagar, Vijayanagar, and Basavanagudi saw sustained clearance of chronic dumping points, aided by tighter surveillance, improved door-to-door waste collection, and stronger ward-level enforcement to prevent fresh accumulation, officials said.Bengaluru South city corporation also recorded notable progress, bringing the blackspot count down from 173 to 119. Jayanagar, Padmanabhanagar, and BTM Layout reported visible improvement following focused clean-up drives, closer supervision by ward officials, and continuous monitoring mechanisms aimed at curbing re-dumping.In contrast, Bengaluru East city corporation registered only a marginal drop in numbers, from 167 to 146 — the lowest improvement across the city's civic jurisdictions. Rapidly expanding areas like KR Pura and Mahadevapura continued to account for a significant number of illegal dumping sites, underscoring the pressures of fast-paced urbanisation, construction debris generation, and inconsistent waste segregation practices.In Bengaluru Central city corporation, the focus was on institutionalising monitoring mechanisms aligned with the Swachh Survekshan standards, officials said. Civic authorities trained field teams on evaluation criteria and compliance benchmarks, while appointing a deputy GM and a dedicated nodal officer to track garbage blackspot removal and toilet maintenance. The corporation also intensified constituency-level drives twice a month.Daljeet Kumar, additional commissioner, Bengaluru Central corporation, said, "We gave them training and all the criteria used in Swachh Survekshan... we appointed a DGM and a nodal person to monitor blackspot removals, toilet cleaning, and prepare a review format. We take up intensive cleaning every second and third Fridays, ensure there is complete cleaning with forest, horticulture, and BSWML teams, and continuous monitoring."In Bengaluru North city corporation limits, the scale of the challenge was more infrastructure-driven. The corporation identified 319 solid waste-dumping locations. Weekly ward-level cleanliness drives are under way, with resident welfare associations and non-govt organisations involved in beautification efforts to prevent fresh dumping.Bengaluru North commissioner Pommala Sunil Kumar said: "We operate 19 functional dry waste collection centres with a combined capacity of 55 tonnes a day, four mini-transfer stations of 30 TPD each, and one large transfer station (150 TPD) in Sarvagnanagar. A 5-TPD biomethanation plant at HRBR Layout is ready but not yet operational. We also conducted ‘Mission Clean Airport Road' covering 34km, mega drives across 128.3km clearing 599 tonnes of waste, and intensive Outer Ring Road cleaning, removing 1,200 tonnes while clearing encroachments. Out of 319 dumping sites, 107 were cleared."The North corporation has also launched a weekly "phone-in" grievance programme, receiving 184 complaints and resolving 180 so far, signalling an attempt to close feedback loops alongside physical clean-up drives.However, despite the progress in clearing illegal dumping points, 823 blackspots remain across the city. Rapid urban growth, construction activity, and behavioural gaps in waste disposal continue to pose challenges.