Unofficial garbage tax bites citizens in Bengaluru
08:28AM Sat 26 Dec, 2015
BANGALURU: For residents of 20 apartments in Silverwood Enclave in Tatanagar, it has been a miserable three weeks. Garbage collection was irregular here and it finally came to a standstill hree days ago. Reason: The residents decided not to pay Rs 1,000 per month to the gar bage contractor. Efforts to contact BBMP officials of the Yelahanka zone yielded some respite but also provided some disturb ng information.
The residents have been informed that their residential building was deemed a commercial generator of garbage, and they would have to pay the amount to the garbage contractor -- besides the property tax being paid to the BBMP.
It's a story that resonates in most parts of the city , from Jayanagar to Yelahanka to Malleswaram to Indiranagar.In what seems to be a misclassification by the BBMP, apartments and households which generate 10 kg or more of garbage will have to directly pay the contractors. As per a 2013 circular by the BBMP, bulk generators are apartment complexes with more than 50 units, while institutional and commercial bulk generators are ones that produce over 10 kg of municipal solid waste. However, BBMP officials say that even residential apartment complexes that have less than 50 units are commercial garbage generators. Consequently, contractors have begun "extorting" money from apartments and households saying they generate over 10 kg daily.
When contacted, mayor Manjunath Reddy said the BBMP will seek to increase garbage cess in the Palike's jurisdiction. "Bengaluru has the lowest garbage cess among all tier-I cities in the country . The present rates are Rs 30 or so, whereas all other cities are charging higher cess. We may consider increasing the cess to Rs 200 or Rs 300 and include all bulk generators under our ambit to rule out ambiguities," he said.
According to a senior BBMP offi cial, payments to the garbage collectors will depend upon the "negotiating skills" of apartment residents or independent houses. If not paid, the contractors say they will not lift the waste.
BBMP officials claim those who lift garbage from residential locations, which are not part of "residential" classification, are not tendered contractors by the Palike. Need to sort out confusion, admits BBMP Mayor Manjunath Reddy admitted that those apartment complexes between 10 to 50 units are being considered as commercial generators of garbage, and said it will only be regulated if the local medical officers of health and officials tighten the control over contractors. BBMP commissioner G Kumar Naik dismissed the "misclassification" and said the rule book does not give any room for people to collect money from apartments or households below 50 units. "As per the rule book, only those domestic households above 50 units should pay the fee for processing the garbage. Those below 50 units need not pay any fee, as they are to be collected by the Palike-issued contractors," he said.
Naik said the Palike plans to identify each and every bulk generator of garbage and put it on the website, so as to avoid any confusion among its officials and garbage collectors. BBMP special commissioner (SWM) Subodh Yadav said the Palike needs to provide a certain level of clarity and define the entire system to erase such anomalies.
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