<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled "Bengaluru stadium to get treated water supply for IPL matches amid crisis" appearing in India Today dated 21.03.2024.</p>
Reeling under a crisis over waste in their neighbourhood in 2000, two concerned citizens of Rajarajeshwari Nagar did something unexpected. Instead of waiting for the government action, they instead formulated a new plan to spread awareness about waste disposal among residents in the area. Goaded by regular complaints from people in the area and drawing inspiration from a waste collection plan being enforced in Hanumanth Nagar, VNVP Rao, the president of the Ideal Home Residents Association in Rajarajeshwari Nagar — with the help of a friend who had returned from recently cleaned-up Surat — attempted to spread awareness about the proper disposal of waste. They also strived to enlist the support of the BCMC (Bangalore City Municipal Corporation) to support this endeavor.
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) now has a clear roadmap for garbage management and the search for alternative landfills is only an immediate solution for the crisis, said BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah on Sunday. However, the Palike is aware that the problem is due to its failure in waste management, he said, speaking at a conference on ‘Solutions to impending public health crisis through good governance in solid waste management’, organised by Namma Bengaluru Foundation in association with city-based NGO Adamya Chetana.
The Subramanyapura lake in Uttarahalli, lying in a state of abject neglect for nearly five years, will get a fresh lease of life, with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) set to take up rejuvenation work in association with other civic agencies and government bodies. The decision follows BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah’s visit to the lake following reports in Deccan Herald about illegal dumping of debris and garbage into the water body, thus reducing its extent from 18.2 acre to 11.3 acre.
Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday retracted his words by saying that the water level at the Kabini and KRS reservoirs does not warrant rationing of water supply in Bangalore. He, however, said water consumption will be monitored during the coming summer months. He remained silent on water required for agriculture purposes in the Cauvery basin. Sources in the government said that the conservative estimate by the Central experts team which visited the Cauvery basin, had put the shortage at 35 tmc ft till the beginning of monsoon in June.
The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to constitute committees in each ward of the City to monitor garbage disposal, before January 21. The direction was issued in a public interest litigation filed by G R Mohan, a city-based advocate and others alleging failure on the part of the Palike in disposing garbage generated in the City.
Depleting reservoir levels aggravate situation An acute water crisis looms large over Bangalore this summer, if the monsoon fails again as the levels of reservoirs that supply water to the City have depleted dangerously due to last year’s scarce rains. The warning comes from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), despite the Board’s delivery of an additional 500 million litres (MLD) of water to the City daily, under Cauvery IV stage II phase, last year.
The Mandur landfill site is set to shut down on February 1 depriving Bangaloreans of a major rubbish dumping yard. But a majority of the citizens are yet to grasp the concept of segregation of waste at source and implement it, thus potentially paving the way for another garbage crisis in the City. Barring a few apartments, not many people have adhered to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s grandiose plans to keep the City clean and reduce the burden on landfills.
The High Court on Friday directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to furnish statistics of garbage cess collection over the last ten years. This followed a submission by the Palike that it was spending 70 per cent more money than it collected as cess. Counsel for the Palike submitted before the Court: “If the cess collected is Rs 100 crore, we are spending Rs 350 crore to clear garbage from the City.” Hearing a batch of petitions challenging the new tender notification issued by the BBMP for the collection and transport of municipal waste, the Division Bench comprising Justices N Kumar and B V Nagarathna directed the BBMP to give details on the cess collected from the public for collecting and transporting garbage.
The Karnataka department of urban development is formulating a policy for urban development to ensure a sustained and balanced development of the cities. Principal secretary of the department of urban development Amita Prasad said the draft policy is getting ready. Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Development of the north Karnataka region with a focus on small and medium towns’ organised by NGO Eco-Watch and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Developments and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) here, she said focus would be on the development of North Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnataka districts where 52 per cent of the population has been deprived of basic infrastructure.
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike will finally do away with the three per cent garbage cess on property tax collected from bulk generators in the City. “There is no point in imposing garbage cess when we have asked the bulk generators to dispose their waste. We will withdraw the cess,” BBMP Commissioner Siddaiah told Deccan Herald. The cess had become a bone of contention between the bulk generators and the civic agency. The High Court had questioned the Palike on the rationale of collecting the cess from bulk generators when they have been asked to segregate and dispose their garbage.
