No segregation on the ground

BANGALORE: After mandatory segregation of waste at source started with a big bang on Monday, the BBMP lapsed into its usual lethargy. Day 1 was a flop show once again, as BBMP did not reach out to the public and explain the process.
Apart from the 12 wards adopted by ITC limited, BBMP was to commence mandatory segregation of waste at source in 22 wards but there was no campaign in place.Mixed waste was collected as usual from 12 wards such as Yediyur, BTM Layout, Shivajinagar, Katriguppe, Pulakeshinagar, Bharatinagar, Jayamahal, Chowdeshwari, Thanisandra, Jnanabharathi and RR Nagar which were chosen by ITC for educating and training pourakarmikas and rag pickers in mandatory segregation.
However, no work on the ground was initiated. "We haven't started mandatory segregation yet, and we'll launch it soon after dry waste collection centres in 22 wards are in place," said a BBMP spokesperson.
A solid waste management expert working with BBMP told TOI it would take one more week for the BBMP to start the campaign as the backend infrastructure, and training for the ground workers have to be done.
Health wing roped in
In a meeting held with officials on Tuesday, BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana said the health wing of the Palike, which was earlier handling solid waste management, will be once again roped into this work. "Health inspectors can look into the hygiene aspect. Now, it's managed by civil engineering staff, but it should be done by the health staff," said the commissioner. Solid waste management was shifted from the health wing to the engineering wing three years ago.