Bengaluru will implement 30 new solid waste management tender packages within two and a half months, Greater Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said at a meeting with officials, contractors and representatives of non-governmental organisations. The rollout is intended to strengthen doorstep waste collection, improve monitoring of municipal contractors and reduce garbage black spots across the city.
The new packages will be implemented in phases, with four packages planned in the first phase and seven each in the second and third phases, according to the announcement. The minister directed officials to move away from older working practices and ensure coordination among civic authorities, contractors and residents during the transition.
A key part of the proposed system is the automation of billing and attendance. The attendance of pourakarmikas, helpers and drivers, along with vehicle deployment, is to be integrated into a single software platform. Officials have also been asked to maintain vehicle photographs, GPS tracking and traffic information on seven identified roads. Byre Gowda said that accurate management of these systems could resolve 90% of the problems associated with the service.
Every waste collection vehicle is also expected to carry a QR code. The system is to be integrated with software that allows residents to submit feedback and complaints directly. The minister instructed authorities to verify that waste vehicles reach every household and to ensure that waste from small hotels, shops and bakeries is handed over to municipal collection vehicles rather than being discarded on roads.
The proposed monitoring framework places responsibility on local collection staff to identify households and commercial establishments that dump waste in public spaces. Authorities have been directed to identify such sources, create awareness and prevent the formation of recurring black spots.
BSWML chief executive officer Kareegowda said contracts were being issued under 33 packages for a seven-year period, involving 5,431 vehicles. He said 100% waste segregation was mandatory under the Solid Waste Management Rules. Attendance is being managed through radio-frequency identification and facial recognition, while live data will be monitored through the Integrated Command and Control Centre.
The system will also include penalties for poor service. Contractors that fail to provide the required service can be blacklisted through the system and fined, Kareegowda said. The announcement did not provide package-wise contract values, ward-level deployment details or the exact start date for each phase.
Greater Bengaluru Authority chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao, municipal commissioners Ramesh D.S., Pommala Sunil Kumar and Ramesh K.N., and additional commissioners Kavitha Rajaram, Lokhande Snehal Sudhakar and Venkatachalapathy were present at the meeting. The next implementation milestone is the phased rollout of the tender packages within the stated two-and-a-half-month period.
