The girls’ and boys’ hostels of the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) have had to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 each to the BBMP Solid Waste Management Plant for not segregating waste properly despite repeated warnings.
The hostel authorities say they will now on follow the rules governing segregation.
On Tuesday, the BBMP’s inspection of the two hostels revealed that waste was dumped without any segregation.
According to BBMP’s Solid Waste Management Rules, “It is mandatory to segregate waste into organic, dry and sanitary from February 1, 2017. Non-compliance will be penalized.”
Randeep, BBMP’s special commissioner for solid waste management, informed The Observer: “The hostels were disposing of waste in a very unhealthy manner. We had warned them earlier. They must segregate waste before disposing it of in BBMP vans. But they didn’t. They kept dumping everything together. They also use black plastic bags for dumping the waste; that too is a violation of the rules. The manner in which they dump the waste is against BBMP’s Solid Waste Management guidelines. I hope they learn a lesson from the fine imposed.”
BBMP vans have stopped collecting waste from the hostels because they were not segregating it. The Observer found that a lot of waste has accumulated and it’s kept inside a storeroom. The place stinks and is filled with flies.
“Earlier, BBMP vans used to tell us to not dispose of everything together. They asked us to segregate solid, wet and sanitary waste. We avoided it. After some time, they stopped picking up the garbage. Now all of it has been accumulated in a room,” said Rajeshwari HT, supervisor of the girls’ hostel.
Savita Hiremath, a waste management expert, explained: “Waste segregation legislation has been there for a long time. Any organization that generates more than 50 kg of wet waste is supposed to process it within the campus, be it a residential area, college or hostel. The Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hostel should follow the rules. If someone is violating the rules, he/she should be penalized. Also, sending out mixed waste causes a lot of pollution during transportation. It is harmful for landfills as well.”
meghna.c@iijnm.org
