Health inspector and BPAC researcher solve the garbage collection problem at Ward No 85

Highlights: The area behind the government primary school has transformed into a 'black spot'.

BENGALURU: P Ramesh Chander a researcher at the Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) has teamed up with the Solid Waste Management Health Inspector Raghu to map the garbage collection at the Doddanekundi Ward No 85 which is not known for the garbage dumping and the irregular street sweeping. As plastic is also being dumped mercilessly, the area behind the government primary school has transformed into a 'black spot'.

The moment the cause of garbage accumulation in the ward was marked out, residents, BPAC researcher Ramesh and health inspector held a brainstorming session to solve the problem.

"We found out that no door-to-door pickup is there in the ward. We analysed reasons behind it and the entire process of garbage pickup is in doldrums. Our challenge was to restore the process and ensure a proper system to measure if the garbage is being collected or not," said Ramesh Chander.

As per the data of BBMP, there are 22,000 houses located in the ward and 33 tipper vehicles for the collection of garbage. However, through the surveys which were conducted after the ward committee meetings, which revealed that the number of tipper vehicles was alarmingly low. But the garbage problem still hasn't been solved as the garbage clearance was not available on a regular basis.

Ramesh said, "Hence we decided to map the pickup. The maps, once marked,will be available on the BBMP website, where one can check the status of the garbage pickup, the vehicle number, driver details, pourakarmika details and if the garbage has been collected or not. Since BBMP also plans to install GPS in tipper vehicles, the live location of tipper vans will also be available on the maps, for people to check when they can expect the tipper vehicle to reach their house."

BBMP has been spending around Rs 55,000 on each tipper vehicle every month. As it is comprised of manpower, maintenance and fuel cost. Ramesh, SWM inspector Raghu and ward committee members belonging to each block have take the decision of appointing a 'suchi mitra' or an information collector to look after the collection drive.

Every 'suchi mitra' will be having an assistant who would be placed in charge in his or her absence. It is a mixture of ward committee members, technology, researchers, authorities and the residents. Anyone who is educated and possess the time and dedication is capable of becoming a 'suchi mitra'.