Bengaluru South City Corporation has started an evening garbage collection pilot in five wards, allowing households to hand over wet and dry waste between 5 pm and midnight. The service is aimed at residents who leave home early or return late and is intended to reduce roadside dumping in parts of south Bengaluru.
The pilot covers four wards in Hongasandra and areas under the Bommanahalli Assembly constituency. Around 20 to 25 autos have been deployed for the evening shift, according to the report. The service is being provided as an additional collection window and will not replace the existing morning operation.
Residents and welfare associations had complained that households unable to hand over waste when the collection vehicles arrived in the morning were leaving garbage bags along roadsides. The problem was reported to be particularly visible around Adugodi, S.G. Palya and Siddapura Road.
K.N. Ramesh, commissioner of Bengaluru South City Corporation, said the initiative was a pilot and that any decision to expand it would be based on the results recorded in the participating wards. “This is a pilot initiative. Based on the results here, a decision will be taken on expanding it to other areas in the future,” he said, according to the report.
The five wards currently have 160 waste collection vehicles operating during the morning period. In Hongasandra ward, six vehicles have been assigned to the evening shift, with three designated to collect wet waste and three assigned to dry waste. The morning service will continue as usual, with 31 autos operating in the ward.
The extended collection window is expected to help information technology employees, students, homemakers and other residents who cannot use the morning service. The civic body’s stated aim is to provide another direct opportunity for residents to hand over waste to collection vehicles and reduce the practice of leaving waste on public roads.
Source segregation remains mandatory under the pilot. Vehicle operators have been instructed not to accept waste that has not been separated into wet and dry categories. The report said roadside dumping can attract mosquitoes, flies and stray animals, while accumulated waste can cause foul odours and raise concerns about the spread of infectious diseases.
The pilot therefore combines a timing change with enforcement of the existing segregation requirement. Its initial performance will determine whether the evening collection model is extended to additional wards, with the corporation expected to take that decision in phases.
