Focus Areas

Goals

[tabs]
[tab title=”Short Term”]

• Create a Model Street from Kundanahalli to Hope Farm (7 km)
• Create a model for citizens to help themselves for a clean and green Whitefield
• Create easy to follow standards for segregation
• Rate communities on their performance

[/tab][tab title=”Long Term”]Create a clean, pedestrian friendly Whitefield.[/tab][/tabs]

Problem 1: Massive amounts of Garbage we are generating

Landfills around Bangalore such as Mandur, Mavallipura and Bingipura have reached their maximum capacity and cannot take any more solid waste at the pace we are generating.  We cannot repeat the September 2012 garbage crisis again. Excessive consumerism has led to a ‘use and throw’ culture which has led to more waste that has to travel to landfills. To create less waste we can

• Buy less
• Adopt use of recyclable, eco-friendly products
• If you cannot do the above, you need to atleast segregate the waste you generate

Segregation will ensure that ONLY 10% of all the garbage you generate will go to the landfill.  A whole bunch of your questions are answered later (Eg: Don’t the ragpickers segregate it all? Why should I bother? ).  Until you read and understand all the details, just follow the steps for segregation as this is now mandatory and a law. Non-compliance can attract heavy penalties.

Use and throw

Problem 2: Streets full of Litter

While aesthetics are an important issue for a cityscape, diseases such as dengue and malaria, the problem of stray dogs, and other health issues are bigger problems. These affect the citizens of the area very directly. To this end, the Waste Management Team of Whitefield Rising negotiated a challenge with BBMP to take on a one kiometre stretch from Varthur Kodi to Whitefield Club and with citizen partnership, transform it into an ideal stretch. BBMP not only took on the challenge but extended the 1km to 4 kms – Thubarahalli to Hopefarm! The 3 month challenge ended on Sep 14^th and we are far from achieving this.

Discussions with experts like “The Ugly Indian” or “Let’s do it Delhi”, has unravelled reasons as to why urban India has so much litter. The waste management team has also walked around the streets several times and has come up with the following reasons why the neighbourhood has so much litter.

No bins anywhere in sight. So where does one toss that packet of Kurkure or candy wrapper?

1. Shop owners don’t have their own bins so their garbage finds their way to the street (nicely tucked away to the side of the shop just outside the shop’s own territory)
2. Where there is open or un-owned/unmonitored space, people feel free to toss their garbage there knowing there will be no repercussions.
3. One person tosses garbage in a place and soon it attracts more!
4. Typical ugly spots come up around trees, BESCOM enclosures, Bus Stops, or areas that look ugly anyway – broken pavement, existing garbage.
5. The pick-up of garbage seems ineffective. The same piece of garbage seems to be touched by so many people before it makes it to the landfill!
6. Sweepers seem to need training on “how to sweep” and collect the garbage. A lack-lustre effort of kicking up dust on main roads at peak traffic time is not helping.
7. Garbage trucks picking up solid waste seem to need training on how to “properly” pick it “All” up
8. Many residential lanes have “erratic” pick up of garbage and hence resort to dumping their daily garbage wherever they can. Often in a publicly accepted area.
9. We seem to be “ugly” Indians. There are numerous examples daily of people driving by the main streets in their “Car”, rolling down their window and voila, tossing out a bag of garbage which may or may not land in the unofficial pile already collecting on the street.
10. The sweepers seem to be listless and reluctant to do their jobs

The Situation

There is Garbage Everywhere

1. Litter on streets
2. Open Garbage dumped in piles at regular intervals
3. Rodents visibly running around. (Remember the Plague at Surat?)
4. Stray Dogs all around the Garbage
5. Cows eating at the garbage dumps and dying plastic bags lining their intestines
6. Open sewers
7. Urinating Men

Your Role

As an individual

1. Segregate. It gets easy.
2. Say no to Plastic Bags in Shops – you have to change your habit for this. Carry a bag with you always.
3. Ensure the shop you go to, especially the street side smaller ones, have a bin.
4. Chide the shop owner if there is litter anywhere around his shop
5. Join your friends to monitor a small tiny stretch of common area near your residence.
6. Independent Villas: See how other independent homes have been successful with good BBMP pickups

Community Level

1. Community Waste Management 101
2. 7 Star Communities
3. Success stories

Your Association’s Role

1. Compost your wet waste. Alternatively, ensure that the wet waste is being composted by the collecting agency.
2. Provide a clear process to manage your Wet, Recyclable dry waste, Sanitary, E-Waste, Medical Waste and Hazardous Waste.  Each category may need separate process for pick-up.
3. Report monthly on quantum of “Rejects to Landfill” in your association

Our Inspiration

We are inspired by and learn from  The Ugly Indian, Vani Murthy from Malleshwaram, Rag picker from Ulsoor, Suma and Bhaskar

Projects

Here are some projects we are working on.

[box type=”info”]Come join us![/box]

Garbage not picked up? Call BBMP!
Have an idea? Share it!
Persistent problems? Write to us and we well see if we can help.

The People

Sangeeta Venkatesh, Anjali Saini, Deepa Peck, Col Handa, Mr Balakrishnan, Ritu George, Ambika Sen, Sriram Kucchimanchi, Pravir Bagrodia, Anu Parekh, Mamata and Shripati, Manish Kumar