Palike to remove over 100 German-made trash bins

Bengaluru: After investing Rs 55 crore towards installing over 100 German-made bins in different parts of the city, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided not to renew the 5-year-old contract with Zonta Infratech, which had run into controversy. The civic body will instead establish manned kiosks in these spots so that residents can hand over the garbage – be it wet, dry or sanitary – instead of littering in public places. 

The twin bins – which were semi-underground and installed by the company in 2018-19 – had turned into a garbage dump yard as people were seen throwing waste all around the bins and the company did not show any intent of clearing the garbage daily. Most of these metal bins had also rusted. 

Praveen Lingaiah, chief engineer of BBMP’s solid waste management (SWM), division said instructions have been given to hand over the dustbins to the zonal superintendent engineers to auction them. “The six vehicles, which were used to transfer the waste, will be given to the waste processing plants to shift inserts,” he said. 

As the contract with Zonta Infratech came to an end, the BBMP has already started removing the twin bins. Varalakshmi, a pourakarmika from (Lalbagh) area said that she had seen dustbins near the road earlier but it is not there anymore. “There were several dustbins in this street before, but now there is trash thrown near the trees and other corners. It has become difficult for us,” she said.  

In places where the underground bins were situated, the civic body will set up manned kiosks. The BBMP had set aside a budget of Rs 4 crore to install 76 kiosks to receive all types of waste from the residents. The idea is to eliminate garbage black spots by providing an opportunity for the residents to hand over garbage instead of dumping it in public spaces. 

One such kasa kiosk was set up on NAL Wind Tunnel road about four years ago. This facility, conceptualised by NGO Sahaas, was able to transform the spot which was a dumpsite in the past.