Civic authorities seem contented about turning more places in the city into landfills as they set aside a whopping Rs 300 crore to create “scientific” landfills.
While the National Green Tribunal order has stated that only inert materials could be sent to landfills, the BBMP has been dumping mixed waste in violation of the order.
The civic body has set aside Rs 100 crore to create two new landfills in the outskirts. While one of them will come up in Kannur, authorities are yet to decide the other place. It has allocated Rs 75 crore to extend the existing dump in Mittaganahalli.
Additionally, the BBMP has proposed to invest Rs 125 crore to undertake village development activities around landfills. These grants are utilised to pacify local villagers and their elected representatives.
Earmarking such large sums for landfills indicates that the civic body has no plans to aggressively introduce waste segregation at the source. Solid waste management experts say creating new landfills is a money-making project. They also wondered why the civic body is not investing on facilities to address biodegradable and plastic waste. Separately, the BBMP has set aside Rs 600 crore towards door-to-door waste collection and transportation of waste to landfills or processing plants.
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