The new Municipal Solid Waste Management tender of BBMP: Does it have the solution for Bengaluru’s garbage challenge?

A public consultation on the draft tender of BBMP on Municipal Solid Waste Management was organised on 16th March 2011 where
- Sri. Manjunatha Reddy, Chairman, BBMP Standing Committee – Health was the Chief Guest.
- Mrs. Almitra Patel, Member, Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management, presided.
- Mr. Gangadhar Swamy, Executive Engineer (SWM), BBMP and Mr. Venkatesh Shekhar, Environmental officer (MSWM), KSPCB, were the Guests of Honour.
- 82 citizen representing 35 organizations including Resident Welfare Organisations, NGOs, CBOs, took part (List of Participants enclosed).
- Presentations by BBMP on the draft tender and by civil society on the garbage tender’s relevance vis-a-vis central and state policies/guidelines was followed by discussions.

The key recommendations that emerged during the consultation are as follows:

At the contractual level:
Ø One contractor to have not more than one package or contract – to increase competition and performance amongst the contractors.
Ø As each package includes 3-4 wards, ward-wise sub-contract or sub-plan to be clearly defined in the package so that reviews/monitoring at the ward level are facilitated.
Ø BBMP should evolve a monthly performance review system through an institutionalised committee consisting of elected representative, officials, RWAs, NGOs and suchi mitras and incorporate this into the contract. Monthly payments should be allowed only after the review.
Ø The contractual period should be subject to revision every year based on review of the performance at each year-end. If the review reveals that the contractor has not performed up to the mark, he could be black-listed forever.
Ø The package and plan for the ward drawn by the BBMP as per the street/area/ward-level statistics should be non-negotiable. No scope should be provided to the contractor to come out with his own work-plan with justification for modification.
Ø Clear cut roles and responsibilities should be spelt out with respect to the generators, RWAs/NGOs/CBOs, councilor, contractor and the BBMP/officials in the tender. BBMP should be responsible for ensuring compliance of provisions by both the generator and the contractor.

In the implementation plan:

Collection of garbage:
Ø Separate schedules for collecting wet and dry waste should be planned. Wet waste should be collected on a daily basis while dry waste should be collected on weekly or bi-weekly basis. Current plan to have vehicle with a partition for collecting dry and wet waste simultaneously should be given up.
Ø Separate vehicles with unique colour code should be dedicated to collect dry and wet waste separately.
Ø All wastes given to auto-tippers and push-carts to be bagged and tied in bio-degradable bags to avoid exposure to environment and manual handling. Only wastes from bins being transferred mechanically to compactors need not be bagged.
Ø Bulk generators, large residential establishments, apartments built after 2006 should make their own arrangements for wet waste composting/bio-methanation and dry waste re-cycling as per KSCPB order. Campuses, educational institutions and government institutions should also make their own arrangements. This should be a non-negotiable. Only rejects to be collected once a week from these bulk generators. Those not complying to be penalized.
Ø Hazardous waste such as batteries or tube lights should be collected separately on monthly basis from households. They should not reach the landfills.
Ø A separate trip should be made for collecting construction debris. It should be used for constructing roads in the new BBMP area. The license to construct buildings should be given on the condition that construction wastes shall be carried to the designated point.
Ø Separate weekly trip should be made for collecting household garden waste. All leaves should be bagged in bio-degradable bags.
Ø A separate trip should be made to collect bulky wastes, such as broken furniture, torn mattresses, etc., once in three months.
Ø The destination of each kind of waste should be mentioned in the tender.
Ø There should be a clear plan for secondary segregation of dry waste to pick up the materials for recycling.
Ø Space at transfer station needs to be cemented to form a platform so that it can be cleaned easily
Ø The contractor who burns leaves, plastics or wastes in the area must be penalized.

BBMP’s obligations under garbage tender
BBMP should ensure that:
Ø All individual shops and residences have two closed bins for storing wet and dry garbage separately within their own premises. Free distribution of two bins with lids, biodegradable bags or bio-bins to individual households/slum dwellers to be considered
Ø All apartment complexes and commercial complexes install two common bins for ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ garbage in basement / ground floor for easy access by waste-collecting staff. Bins to be compatible for direct mechanical loading into compactor
Ø On failure of apartment complexes or commercial units to install bins within given deadline BBMP to compulsorily provide bins and charge them for it.
Ø All garbage being given to auto-tippers and push-carts is ‘bagged’ in bio-degradable bags and tied and not given loose. This to prevent exposure of garbage to environment and manual handling and in the interest of hygiene and aesthetics
Ø Responsibility of segregating waste lies with the generator and not on the contractor. (List of the households not segregating waste should be prepared by the contractor and given to BBMP for action. Penalties should be levied on them by BBMP)

Cleaning of public spaces
Ø Bidder should be made to devise a system of overseeing that no one litters by appointing staff who stand at collection points or black spots and monitor that no one litters. Names of those littering to be provided by contractor to BBMP for penalization.
Ø Cleaning of public toilets, community toilets, toilets of schools, government offices, anganwadis, etc. should be assigned to the contactor of that particular area.
Ø Commercial areas and market places should be cleaned at specific times such that it doesn’t affect the functioning of the area.

Norms of service delivery
Ø Norms for the deployment of street sweepers for certain lengths of roads, the norms for the number of closed tipper Lorries and compactors for certain number of households /units should be clearly mentioned in the tender.
Ø Norms should be specified in the tender for the quantum and frequency of supply of equipment, tools and cleaning materials, etc.
Ø Along with 1/7th additional staff at least 20% stand-by staff should be recruited for those taking leave/absent. Provision for stand-by vehicles when the regular vehicle is under repair should be made.

Other conditionalities
Ø Space for parking push-carts, auto-tippers, compactors, and other such vehicles should be provided by BBMP.
Ø Equipment, tools and vehicles should be cleaned on daily basis to maintain hygiene.
Ø Vehicles and equipment should be cleaned by bio-sanitizers and not phenyl to avoid killing bacteria which help in composting.
Ø GPS should be installed in all vehicles to monitor their movements constantly. This should be accessible to the public on the web.

Workers’ issues
Ø Manual handling of waste shall be prohibited as per MoEF Rules.
Ø Workers adhering to health and safety rules and use of protective gear should be made mandatory.
Ø Uniforms given to the workers should have ward number, id number and the contract number and name of the worker on them.
Ø Bidder should submit details of list of workers and their attendance with his monthly bill.
Ø As principal employer, BBMP should be responsible for any disputes between workers and contractor. BBMP should ensure that bidder adheres to labour Acts and rules. Penalties should be laid on bidder for violation of labour laws, non-payment of ESI, PF, etc. Also, officials failing to check malpractices of the contractors should be penalized.
Ø Applicable law does not mention the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act 1986 or the Inter-State Migrant Workmen’s Act which has strict provisions regarding the employment of migrants from other States.

Support to self-initiatives and informal sector activities
Ø In slums, the community can be given the responsibility to collect the waste from the area and give to the contractors at entrance point of the slum. Incentives should be given to the slum community itself for doing this.
Ø BBMP should ensure that garbage contractors cooperate and integrate voluntary efforts of NGOs/SHGs/RWAs to collect garbage door-to-door, recycle and compost it, into their own work-plans and not disrupt or kill these efforts.
Ø Such self-initiatives should be exempted from this tender and from cess. Incentives should be provided to them to encourage such initiatives.
Ø The tender should not make provision only to big contractors. Opportunities should be provided for SHGs working in an area to earn their livelihood.

At the community level:
Ø Transparency should be ensured by publicizing complete contract details in every ward and means of receiving complaints from citizens on sign-boards at each package area.
Ø Involvement of NGOs and RWAs should be institutionalized through a committee with specifications on frequency of its meetings, duties and functions. The bidder should be made accountable to the committee. Fixing these meetings should be the responsibility of BBMP official.
Ø Performance of the contractor should be evaluated by this committee at ward level and a report on the quality of service provided by the contractor should be produced by this committee.

Zero Waste City Plan
As the present tender does not the address waste management in its totality, BBMP should put together a zero waste city plan. The outlines of the draft plan were already shared by the BBMP. A plan document should be put out by April 2011 by BBMP-SWM wing. The plan should consider the following points:

Ø Generating revenue from waste instead of levying tax on the public to remove waste. Assuming generation of approx. one kg of waste from each unit and estimating generation of revenue of Re.1 from each kg of waste generated, BBMP should earn Rs 182 crore per year.
Ø BBMP should operate on the principle that: no wet waste or dry waste should leave the ward/city; only 10% compacted rejects should leave the city to the landfill.
Ø Composting/bio-methanation sites: Adequate space needs to be earmarked in each ward and market area for local composting/bio-methanation / vermicomposting / generation of electricity from wet waste. Facility for using the bio-gas for street lighting or community kitchens needs to be created.
Ø Drop-off centres: Space needs to be provided in all 198 wards for drop-off centres for dry waste (and also for collecting hazardous wastes) of different types.
Ø Sorting stations: Space needs to be ear-marked at/near the drop-off centre for sorting dry waste, even that collected by dry waste collectors. Space for storage of sorted waste and to act as transfer station for inert waste is required.
Ø Composting garden waste and leaf litter: Residents should be encouraged to compost horticulture waste at site itself. All garden waste and leaves from street-sweeping to be composted through pit method at BBMP parks or other appointed place.
Ø Cow-sheds to aid in composting: Establish cow-sheds as per norms and provide them wet waste / link them to bulk generators of wet waste
Ø Hawking zones: Space needs to be set apart for creating hawking zones with food courts, one per health ward, on vacant land or a road with wide footpath, so that proper collection and storage facilities for vendors’ wastes can be provided.
Ø Linkage should be established with informal sector dry-waste collectors like rag-pickers and kabaddiwallas in each area for collection and disposal of dry waste.
Ø It should be considered whether garbage contractor should be asked to collect only wet waste and informal sector organised and enabled to collect all dry waste.
Ø Backward and forward linkages for trade wastes and dry recyclables with recycling industries should be created.
Ø Debris, garden waste, drain silt, bulky waste (broken furniture, mats, rugs, mattresses, etc.) hazardous waste such as batteries, sharps, medical waste, trade waste such as leather trimmings, tailor’s waste, etc., should not be mixed with wet and dry waste. These should be collected and processed separately.

Information, Education & Communication Campaign
Ø MoU should be signed with NGOs for providing training and awareness on segregation of wastes, composting, and other such SWM activities with the NGOs.
Ø Output of waste should be reduced by promoting installation of composting bins/infrastructure by every house-hold/apartment complex/bulk generator.

Miscellaneous provisions
Ø A bylaw should be passed prohibiting feeding of ownerless stray dogs to eradicate rabies and the stray dog menace.

Hoping these recommendations will be accepted and included in the latest garbage tender and long-term plans of BBMP to make Bangalore a model city.