BBMP Commissioner Rajneesh Goel is a smart man. To back up his ultimatum forcing apartments to do wet waste processing within, he brought up an unknown pollution control rule.
Goel pointed out recently that builders of big apartments are already bound to set up waste processing facilities. Apparently the state’s pollution watchdog, KSCPB, had made a rule in 2006 stating that installation of these facilities be made a condition to issuing Occupancy Certificates. This he says is reason enough for BBMP to stop collecting waste from apartments which do not have converters or compost pits! It is another matter that neither builders nor consumers buying flats are aware of this rule.
The preference to cite a rule is actually a good thing. It shows that at least one BBMP Commissioner appears to still have symbolic respect for a rule based system.
What Goel and the KSPCB ought to have considered is this: approvals for apartments are given to builders by town planning departments of BBMP and BDA. Approvals for Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) are given by KSPCB through a clear cut procedure too, that dovetails into the main sanction process. Builders therefore have to make provision for STPs when building the project, and the costs are passed to the property owners. Why did waste converters not already happen for the past six years then?
It’s simple: All of the sanctioning authorities – BDA, BBMP and KSPCB – slept on it, until the garbage crisis became a wakeup call in September 2012.
More apartments and gated layouts are being built and launched with each passing month. Any commissioner who is serious about getting waste processing mandatorily done within apartment communities is better off getting the city’s approval process to enforce waste converter or composting installations from the start. At least this will fix the problem going forward.
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This brings to sharp focus, though not for the first time, certain brutal realities of the disgusting scenario all around; the concept of ‘smart'(ness)spoken of has to be understood , of course, depending upon any such given context.
The ultimate responsibility for the whole sporadic developments of no less magnitude than that of an ‘epidemic’, from to time, nay the answerability thereto, undoubtedly lies in the backyard of, besides BDA and BBMP, KSPCB the proncipal authority holding the forte.
To find an answer as to where the blame really lies, a reaction given vent elsewhere, albeit in another context, may help: Ref. http://apartment-bangalore.com/builders-has-to-obtain-cfo-to-handover-flats-to-buyers-358.html/comment-page-1#comment-210
Indians are so good at the blame game it is not surprising that nothing gets done properly. Citizens do not want to take any personal responsibility and want to act as if 80% of Indians are paying any taxes. Only 36 million are paying any incomne tax and rest are paying taxes related to property etc. It is high time people in India realized that over 200 million are carrying the burden of 900 million who are neither paying taxes for income nor any other type of tax. In that situation if they expect best of the services similar to the west it is not possible even if the entire govt suddnetly becomes 100 percent honest today. Stop the blame game and stop thinking if you want a clean environment or do you want to blame someone else. It is high time citizens took some responsibility and obeyed the law and segregated the waste. I have never seen this much of debate and discussion to keep ones city clean. When a western person sees litter on the road they generally pick up and put it in the bin if there is no bin they will take it home and do so. How many Indians litter in the street including so called educated ones? These neandethals should learn to behave in a cilized manner and ask a question if we do not clean up our city who will and if we litter around us who will clean up? Is that that hard? Wake up India start behaving in civilized manner first
http://www.waste-management-world.com/news/2012/12/25/effluents-dumped-in-ap-reach-mandur-nl-lorry-carrying-chemical-waste-stopped-by-villagers-they-plan.html