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Sign up to make Bangalore a Waste-less City

Sign up to make Bangalore a Waste-less City

It is a disturbing indicator of the disconnect between people of Bangalore and civic agencies that an article on the prevailing garbage (mis)management in New York Times does more to alert authorities to a crisis, than does protests of rural communities against dumping of about 50,00,000 kilogrammes of the city's 'waste' daily on their fields, forests, grazing pastures, canals, tanks, etc. Clearly, villagers aren't willing to take any more of this attack on their Fundamental Right to Life and to a Clean Environment resulting in garbage piling up on the streets, possibly threatening the outbreak of an epidemic. This situation would never have occurred if the Government genuinely involved the public in decision making and ensured appropriate planning and management of the municipal solid waste stream. The only auspicious occasion for such beginnings is NOW, else it will be NEVER.

The current crisis is also a direct consequence of a crore (10 million) people behaving with an “out of sight, out of mind” approach when disposing their waste. Villagers around Bangalore don't generate waste and yet have borne with extraordinary patience the pollution of their lands, soil, water, air, and also the contamination of their bodies and that of their cattle, due to toxics from the city's waste. When villagers protest this attack on their Fundamental Rights, civic agencies, state government and the police have employed brute force in an attempt to crush the resistance and also fabricated false criminal charges against key leaders in a vain attempt to stymie the resistance. Meanwhile, many many promises made by various Commissioners and Mayors over the years that the damage done would be contained, victims compensated, and the villages improved, remain unfulfilled.

This situation was brought to the attention of the Karnataka High Court recently in a PIL and the Court has observed that “(t)here can be no gainsaying that the landfills are not a permanent solution”, that the “matter requires urgent decision” and that “(e)very citizen needs to be reminded that he/she has Fundamental Duties … to keep the environment clean by ensuring waste is segregated in each household..”. (These decisions may be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/cvqsgco and http://tinyurl.com/cz8tumu.)

Appropriate technological solutions, social response strategies and necessary legal standards to tackle this problem have been around for a very long time. In fact the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules were brought into effect by the Indian Environment Ministry 12 years ago! According to these Rules, cities are required to segregate waste at source, compost organic waste locally, ensure maximum recycling, treat biomedical and hazardous wastes carefully and only dispose inert material into scientifically designed and managed landfills. The Indian Supreme Court has supervised the evolution and enactment of these standards and keen that it must become part of ordinary municipal practices imposed December 2003 as a deadline for major cities to comply with the Rules.

Since then, many Decembers have come and gone, but civic agencies like Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, Bangalore's civic agency) continue to violate with impunity these legal norms and judicial directives on waste management. It is this callousness that has resulted in the current stinking state of affairs, which, without doubt, is a shameful statement on a city that prides itself as the knowledge and IT capital of India. However, hope resurfaced when BBMP issued a series of full page advertisements on 1^st October promoting segregation of waste at source as the fundamental basis of its solid waste management effort.

Shortlived it seems now because in a meeting held by the Chief Minister on this issue on 26^th October 2012, a decision was taken to reopen landfills in Mavallipura, Mandur, Doddaballapur, etc. under police protection (a copy of this decision is accessible here: http://tinyurl.com/bwpadqo). This has been followed by another decision in the BBMP Council on 30^th October approving the purchase by a private firm of 400 acres of farm land off Bagepalli (near Chickaballapur), a full 100 kilometres from Bangalore, to set up the largest landfill ever conceived in India!

So if ever one imagined that the dumping culture was going to end soon, it seems unlikely if the BBMP has its way. Once more the Principle of Prior and Informed Consent of impacted communities has been fundamentally violated.

Another decision taken by the BBMP Council has been to scrap all garbage collection contracts and reissue new one's at whopping cost of Rs. 305 crores annually. The new contractors, reportedly, are to collect only segregated waste. But it is not at all clear how this will be achieved given our common understanding of the low levels of competence of such operators to work with communities and make this transition from a dumping-to-segregating-waste-culture happen. Could the outcome be more pollution, more protests from villagers, more of garbage piling up on the city's streets, more of the same?

We can risk waiting, or we can act now to safeguard our collective interests to ensure Bangalore will make the transition from a waste-full city to one that is waste-less. With this objective, ESG has put together a plan of action consisting of highly achievable and required actions that provide short term and long term solutions to help make Bangalore India's first Waste-less city. We request you to review this strategy and endorse it by signing the petition at this link: http://tinyurl.com/chkc9mh.

Please note that every time you sign, a copy of your endorsement along with the petition will reach each and every decision maker connected with the waste management stream in Bangalore.

Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Yours sincerely,

ESG Team

Petition

To:

The Chief Minister of Karnataka

Mayor and Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike

Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board

Dear Sirs,

I/we write to adopt the enclosed series of actions which can ensure Bangalore transforms into a Waste-less city from its current status of “garbage city”.

1. Segregate, compost, recycle: A massive campaign approach must be immediately adopted to educate communities to segregate waste at source. Organic matter must be composted locally to the maximum extent possible. Yes it is possible to adopt very simple techniques to compost organic refuse within households, apartments, offices, etc. and thus turn what is now waste into valuable manure. This will help allow recovery of recyclable material, safe handling of hazardous waste and only inert waste may need to be land-filled. This will bring tremendously reduce the volume of waste, thus helping save valuable land, public funds now wasted on trucking waste out and protect us from pollution. Burning waste must be totally banned as it causes very serious health hazards. Businesses, institutions, households, people must be encouraged to shift away from using non-biodegradable material (Eg.: disposable plastic cups, PET bottles, thermocol, etc.). Use of cotton, paper, jute and other such biodegradable packaging material must be aggressively promoted, and become the norm for most packaging to the maximum extent possible.

2. Campaign approach to educate people: BBMP must immediately constitute an advisory network of not-for-profit voluntary organisations who have promoted this approach for decades and successfully demonstrated its feasibility. BBMP must also immediately fund the dissemination of excellent education material that voluntary organisations have already produced on progressive methods to resolve the waste problem and ensure that it reaches everyone across Bangalore. Students and workers from corporate bodies, industries, public institutions and volunteers must be drafted in every neighbourhood to support this campaign on lines of the successful Polio eradication and Literacy Promotion efforts.

3. Power to the People: Systematic, democratic and meaningful involvement of people in municipal decisions is fundamental to the success of any short term and long term solution dogging our cities. The best way to achieve this is to immediately constitute Constitutionally guaranteed Ward Committees with appropriate representation from local voluntary organisations, RWAs, schools, colleges, corporates, hotels and officiated by the Corporator and BBMP staff. For greater functionality, these Ward Committees may be further decentralised into sub-ward and street level committees to specifically find solutions to highly localised waste management problems and on a case to case basis. This method of public involvement is far more effective in dealing with the current crisis, as the norm for urban governance, and also in responding to any emergency. The current reliance on elite forums to search for solutions must be abandoned, as they are unconstitutional, undemocratic and unnecessary.

4. Collaborate, Cooperate and Share Information: Corporators and BBMP environmental engineers must lead, support and work with ward, sub-ward and street level committees to ensure that correct methods are employed. They must make public all information relating to waste management at the local levels, including maps, details of workforce employed, waste collection routines, contractors details, and the like. Such an exercise will help build transparency and public confidence in the overall effort. BBMP must immediately and completely share all details of waste management at the city, ward, sub-ward and street levels on its website as part of its suo moto information sharing obligation per the Right to Information Act, 2005.

5. Inform and Communicate Change, All the Time: BBMP must put out educational material and provides helplines in every Bangalore One Centre to assist people to understand and work with this transition to a Waste-less City. Progressive, responsible, considerate, socially just, ecologically sound and humane approaches must be constantly broadcast and popularised, so that they become widely practiced for the benefit of present and future generations.

6. Pourakarmikas must be respected and rewarded: Pourakarmikas are highly exploited and deal with our waste in the most inhumane conditions today. This must end now. Their health and occupational rights must be fully protected, their wages guaranteed, services professionalised, and they must become the fulcrum of solid waste management practices. The city must recognise and reward them for their unstinted efforts safeguarding our collective interests.

7. Every street must know and manage its waste: Decentralising garbage handling is the only way out of the current complex mess of waste accumulation. Public must be organised at highly local levels , such as the street, apartment block, etc., to develop local plans to process waste generated, including that which has accumulated in recent days. Based on public participation spaces must be identified in every ward/sub-ward for transit stations to process the waste stream, recover recyclables and remove inert and hazardous waste. Dead spaces, such as areas under HT power lines, must be identified for such activities. Where there is an acute constraint for space, such as in old neighbourhoods (Eg. Chickpet), or densely crowded and poorly planned neighbourhoods (Eg. Kumaraswamy Layout), agreements may be encouraged with space surplus wards encouraging renting of composting space.

8. Cut down Waste Generation: BBMP must take immediate steps to institute legal measures to cut down generation of wasteful plastics, PET bottles and thermocol materials which are major contributors to toxicity in the waste stream. Original Equipment Manufacturers must be compelled to take back waste (such as bottles, packaging material, etc). Such policies will force them to minimise packaging material, and conservation of material, energy and prevent pollution. Time tested systems of packaging groceries with paper, jute, cloth and other biodegradable and recyclable material must be encouraged and made the norm. This will minimise waste production and help create thousands of jobs in the small scale industrial sector.

9. Incentivise Changemakers, Encourage Urban Gardening: Those composting biodegradable waste at source must be incentivised by waiving their Solid Waste Management Cess on the recommendation of Ward/Sub-ward/Street Committees. BBMP must also actively encourage urban terrace gardening and farming, including in Raja Kaluves (canals which are now wrongly being cemented) and such other open spaces, on the lines of urban farming successfully practiced by people in Havana, capital of Cuba. Forest and Horticulture departments must support this urban gardening effort by providing saplings and seeds free of cost as an incentive to those who produce manure out of kitchen waste.

10. Formalise Livelihoods of Waste-pickers: Informal waste pickers provide tremendous service to society by recovering value out of waste. Ward, sub-ward and street committees must be encouraged to integrate them into waste stream management, thus enabling their safe livelihood options.

11. Penalise the Big Polluters first: BBMP must penalise large waste generators (kalyana mantaps, public institutions, corporates, construction sector, etc.) who fail to comply with norms. This policy must eventually be made applicable to households and small businesses.

12. Construction debris must be maximally reused locally: Construction debris today forms a major bulk of the waste stream and must be reused locally for road building or earth filling where possible. Only that which cannot find any use within the city must be landfilled.

13. Strict NO to toxic Incineration projects. Big YES to Biomethanation: Waste to energy projects based on incineration must be banned as they are failed technologies, extremely difficult to regulate and generally promoted by profit-hungry corporations who lie about its highly toxic impacts (Eg. Hihgly carcinogenic dioxin pollution). Biomethanation plants must be strongly supported and setting them up at the local levels, such as in apartment blocks, public institutions, etc., must be strongly incentivised.

14. Landfills must become a thing of the past: Scientifically developed landfills must be available only for disposal of inert and toxic material per applicable norms. Siting such landfills must be based on deep and democratic consultation and consent of local communities, and by ensuring all health and environmental safeguards are strictly implemented. Absolutely no dumping of organic waste in landfills must be allowed, as it generates climate unfriendly methane and toxic gases, and destroys the possibility of recovering carbon as manure.

-- 
Environmental, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives
Environment Support Group - Trust
1572, 36th Cross, Ring Road
Banashankari II Stage
Bangalore 560070. INDIA
Tel: 91-80-26713559~61
Voice/Fax: 91-80-26713316
Web: www.esgindia.org
Email: esg@esgindia.org

Concerts: Novemeber 2012

R.T.NAGAR CULTURAL ASSOCIATION – 22ND ANNUAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

VENUE:TARALABALU KENDRA MAIN AUDITORIUM,2ND BLOCK,R.T.NAGAR,BANGALORE-

Time 5:30 pm

2nd Nov :  Musical ensemble “Ganga Kaveri” by Praveen Godkhindi and party
3rd Nov  : PRIYA SISTERS – [Smt Shanmukhapriya and Smt HAripriya]
4th Nov  : Sanjay Subrahmanyan & Party
…ENTRY FREE
=============================================================================================
Kala Sourabha foundation
Violin recital by Vid. S. Seshagiri Rao accompanied on Violin by Vid. Rajeevalochana and Vid. Shashidhar
at Seva Sadan, 13th cross, Malleshwaram on 4th November at 10.30 am.
=============================================================================================

SGBS Trust Monthly Concert

at  Unnati Centre, Sadananda Nagar , NGEF Layout

4th Nov 2012 , 5:00 pm

Shantala Subramanyam ( Flute) / M R Gopinath ( Violin) / K Sai Giridhar( Mrudangam)

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Sur Sagar – 31st Varshikotsav
10 Nov 2012 @ Chowdiah Memorial Hall at 6:00 pm

Vidushi Girija Devi  &  Pt Venkatesh Kumar ( hindustani classical) / Pt Ravindra Yavagal ( Tabla) / Vyasamurthi Katti ( Harmonium)

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Essae Music Foundation & Dr.Ranganath

18 Nov 2012 ,  Sunday 3:55 pm

Vocal Concert by Vid S Shankar / Mysore Nagaraj ( Violin) / N Vasudeva ( mrudangam)

by invitation only. For detail  music at essay dot in

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17-11-2012

Sunday

5:30PM

Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna – Dr. M. Manjunath – Arjun Kumar – U.N. Giridhar Udupa. Programme at Bangalore Gayana Samaja Auditorium Those who are interested are requested to contact the institute to receive their invite

BTM Cultural Academy – Monthly Concerts
at Shree Ramana Maharshi Academy for the Blind – 3rd Cross, 3rd Phase , J P Nagar
24-Nov Saturday 5:30 pm
Haridasa Compositions by Pallavi Prasanna / H M Smitha/B S Prashanth/ Srishylan
25-Nov Sunday  10:30 am
Carnatic Vocal concert by Sugandha Kalamegan/T S Krishnamurthy/Renukaprasad / Bhargava Halambi

Schooling Steps: A Times School Expo

It's that time of the year when parents are wondering about which school to enroll their children in.
Schooling Steps,an initiative by Education Times,is an exposition of schools, conceptualized as a boon for such parents.It showcases an array of Bangalores best educational institutions,ranging from preschool to class 12.

In fact,going a step further,this exposition also has a line up of schools based in the US and UK,catering to parents who wish to give their children a global education.

Participating in the expo are Bangalore-based schools Greenwood High,Treamis World,Candor International,Achievers International Academy,Brigade School,Vibgyor High,Harvest International,Chrysalis High,Whitefield Global,Ebenezer International,Global Indian International,Vydehi School of Excellence,India International,Oakridge International and the UK/US-based EF International Academy.

On November 3 and 4 (11am-6:3pm) at Novotel Bengaluru Tech Park,opposite Intel Campus,Marathahalli - Sarjapur Ring Road.Entry free.For further details call 9620879643,9742594699,9886216316

Events: 1-11, Nov 2012

Festive collection

Latha Puttanna, fashion designer and the face of the label Shrishti, will be showcasing her festive collection at the Raintree Gallery on November 2 and 3.

For the first time, Latha is launching the Latha Puttanna Weaves, created exclusively for Shrishti.

‘The Bookwallah...’

Bangalore International Centre, in association with ‘Bangalore Literature Festival’ and Asia Link, is organising ‘The Bookwallah Travelling Writers Festival (Part 2)’ on November 10, 6 pm at Bangalore International Centre Auditorium, Teri Complex, 4th Main, 2nd Cross, Domlur II Stage.

Walk on

‘Walk For Health with Max Bupa’ will be held on November 4, 7.30 am onwards from Kanteerava Stadium, Kasturba Road. Log on to www.walkforhealth.in to register. It is open to all.

Exhibition

Central Cottage Industries Emporium (CCIE) has organised ‘Festive Temptations’, an exclusive exhibition of diyas and gifts, at its centre on M G Road. The exhibition will be open from 10 am to 7 pm on all days at CCIE premises, No. 144, M G Road. The exhibition, which will be on till November 11, has on display terracotta diyas, gold-painted marble plates, exclusive Tanjore paintings, cotton and tussar saris, embroidered Pashmina shawls and much more.

Film screening

Maraa and Pedestrian Pictures, in association with the department of journalism, Mount Carmel Colle­ge, are holding the premier sc­reening of ‘Have you seen the Arana?’ (Ningal Aranaye Ka­ndo?) in Malayalam with En­glish subtitles, directed by Su­nanda Bhat on November 3, 5.30 pm at Mount Carmel Co­llege Auditorium.
The fil­m­-maker will be present for a discussion after the screening.

‘O Friend...’

 ‘O Friend, This Waiting!’, a film, will be screened on November 7 and 8, 6.30 pm at Bangalore International Centre, Teri Complex, 4th Main, 2nd Cross, Domlur II Stage.

Craft display

The ‘Sampoorn Crafts Festival’, which offers flavours of rural India, will be held from November 2 to 11 at Chitrakala Parishat. The timing is 10 am to 7.30 pm.



DRAMA

Romantic touch

WeMove Theatre is presenting, ‘P.S. I Don’t Love You’, a romantic comedy, on November 1, 7.30 pm at Alliance Francaise. The play is based on a couple who plan to spoil their own wedding. It is written and directed by Abhishek Iyengar, the music is by Abhishek Narain and lights by Hanu R. For details, log on to www.indianstage.in

Bard’s world

The ‘Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival’ will be held till November 11.This year, the theme celebrates William Shakespeare.

In store at the festival are productions from different corners of the world and two from India.

From Mumbai, there are Atul Kumar’s ‘Twelfth Night’ and Sunil Shanbag’s ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’. And from overseas, the plays include Dhaka Theatre’s ‘The Tempest’ from Bangladesh; and Marjanishvili’s ‘As You Like It’ from Georgia. Dramanon will present ‘Much Ado...’  on November 2, 7.30 pm at the festival.

There will be a sonnet recitation evening, screenings of two films based on his work, arts appreciation course, solo performances by renowned theatre personalities, a poster-design competition, Shakespeare readings in the parks and more during the festival. For details, call 9742478886.

‘Gulle Nari’

Pra Ka Sam is staging Gulle Nari, a Kannada play on the occasion of ‘Kannada Rajyotsava’ on November 1. It will also be staged on November 2. The show timing is  7.30 pm. The venue is K H Kala Soudha, Ramanjaneya Temple Compound, Basavanagudi. For details, call 7259998222.

Comedy act

Some of Australia’s favourite comedians from the ‘Melbourne International Comedy Festival’ are coming to Bangalore as part of ‘Oz Fest’, a celebration of Australian culture.

They will perform on November 8 and 9, 9 pm at Opus, 4, 1st Main, off  Palace Cross Road, Chakravarthy Layout, Vasanth Nagar. Free entry before 8 pm.

English play

An English play titled, ‘Valley Song’ will be performed at Jagriti, Whitefield till November 4 at 8 pm (Tuesday to Saturday) and 3 pm and 6.30 pm on Sunday. The show is suitable for those above 12 years. It is set against the backdrop of post-apartheid South Africa. The cast include Jagdish Raja and Rebecca Spurgeon. It is directed by Arundhati Raja and music is by Sankarshan Kini.

Music    

Rock on

Groove to rock music by Gary Lawyer at Hard Rock Café, St Mark’s Road on November 1, 8.30 pm.

‘Quintessence’

The Bangalore School of Music is presenting ‘Quintessence’, an evening of chamber music in consort, on November 3, 7 pm at Alliance Francaise. The 75-minute programme will feature duets and trios by Paulette DeMello on flute, Stuart Potter from the US on bassoon and Daniel Bircher from Switzerland on clarinet accompanied by Rebecca Thomas and Berenice da Gama Rose on the piano. For details, call 41285017.

Anniversary

Suswaralaya College of Music, in association with Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira, is organising its 13th anniversary celebrations from November 1 to 4 at No. 12, 28th Cross, Geetha Colony, 4th Block, Jayanagar.

There will be a performance by vocalist M S Sheela on November 1, 9.30 am. She will be accompanied by Vasudeva Rao on  mridangam.

Audio CDs and book titled, Sulabhavallavo Mahananda — Mundiges of Haridasas will be released on the occasion. For details, call 26633623.

Vocal tunes
Ananya is presenting vocal recitals by Manasi Prasad and Vinay Sharva on November 3, 6.30 pm. The venue is Ananya Sabhangana, 91/2, 4th Main, Malleswaram.

Hindustani evening

Shri Akhila Havyak Mahasbha Kala Vedike, in association with Cobalt Forum of Art and Music, is organising ‘Hindustani Classical Music – An Evening’ on November 4 at Havyak Mahasabha, 101, 11th Cross, 8th Main, Malleswaram.

On the occasion, there will be a vocal recital by Sangeetha Kakhandaki and Pratibha Hegde. They will be accompanied on tabla and harmonium by Vikas Naregal  and Madhusudhan Bhat respectively. 

Annual feast

Rabindranath Tagore Nagar Cultural Association is holding its ‘22nd Annual Music Festival’, in association with Taralabalu Kendra on November 2, 3 and 4 at Taralabalu Kendra Main Auditorium , 2nd Block, R T Nagar. For details, call 23543689.

Reggae time

Sean Paul, Grammy Award winner and king of reggae will perform at Manpho Convention Centre, 90, Veeranna Palya, Nagawara Ring Road, opposite BEL Corporate Office, near Hebbal Flyover (next to Manyata Tech Park) on November 4 at 4 pm. He will groove to his new Tomahawk technique. For tickets, call 9769944327.   

Piano magic

International Music and Art Society is presenting a classical piano recital by Orietta Caianello on November 2, 7.15 pm at the Alliance Française. Orietta will play an unusual and interesting set of tunes of only women composers — Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn and others. Tickets will be available at Alliance Française. 

Dance     

Bharatanatyam

Atula Chandra Shekar is performing a bharatanatyam, as part of the Chigaru programme, organised by the Department of Kannada and Culture, Government of Karnataka on November 3 at Kannada Bhavan, J C Road.

Folk steps

The Bangalore School of Music will be presenting ‘An Evening of Colourful Folk Dances’ on November 1, 6.30 pm at Jnana Jyothi Auditorium, Bangalore University Central College (City) Campus, Palace Road.

Entry for the programme is by invitation only. Free invitation cards are available on first come first-served basis at the ICCR Office, No. 7/2, First Floor, 2nd Main, Palace Cross Road, and the Bangalore School of Music, CBI Main Road, R T Nagar, between 9.30 am and 6 pm. For details, call 23462714.

‘Rangapravesha’

Pratibha Naatyalaya is presenting the bharata­natyam rangapravesha of Pratibha Kini, a disciple of Prabha Kini, on November 3, 6 pm at ADA Rangamandira.

Interesting mix

International Dance Alliance and Padmalaya Dance Foundation are holding a dance festival Kavi- an ode to great poets. Padmalaya Dance Foundation, Sharmila Mukerjee and team, Prabal Gupta and Mythili Anoop, Praveen Kumar and team will present a range of traditional dance forms.  It will be held on November 4, 6 pm at ADA Rangamandira, J C Road.

‘Sammilana’

‘Shambhavi Dance Ensemble’ will be presenting Sammilana, a kuchipudi dance feature as part of Kannada Rajyotsava on November 1, 10.30 am at Mico premises, Naganatpur.

The programme will bring out the romantic lilt and loveliness of kuchipudi style.