Bangalore: From April, Bangaloreans will start paying a monthly solid waste management cess, ranging between Rs. 30 and Rs. 100 depending on the carpet area of their house or apartment.

This is part of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's (BMP) plans to have scientific landfills for solid waste generated in the city, which is estimated to be 2,100 to 2,500 tonnes a day.

The traditional method of disposal was to collect it along with other kinds of waste from garbage bins located in the city. This changed over the past few years when BMP vehicles began collecting household waste from the doorsteps with the cooperation of residents' associations and apartment owners. Some non-governmental organisations supported this move and helped it become acceptable among a majority of citizens.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court directed that all municipal authorities should go for scientific landfills not inside the city, but close enough, and without affecting the health of citizens.

The first sanitary landfill for Bangalore is about to start functioning at Mavallipura, near Yelahanka, about 20 km from the city. It is spread over 100 acres and has the capacity to be filled with 1,000 tonnes of solid waste a day for the next 30 years.

While nobody really wants to pay more tax, there are good reasons to support any move for better methods to manage solid waste. The Environment Report Card for Bangalore, released late last year by Centre for Sustainable Development points out that it is among the top environmental concerns of a cross-section of Bangaloreans.

The survey that preceded the report covered 1,200 households in the four zones of the city and around 100 commercial establishments. Around 88 per cent of households reported having door-to-door waste collection and so did 89 per cent of marriage halls.

But this was not the case with 73 per cent of eateries that generate a lot of waste every day. Commercial establishments reported engaging private agencies to take away waste.

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