If you are a resident of an apartment with 50 or more units and not composting waste within the premises, it is time to act. BBMP has started imposing penalties on violators.
Recently, penalties of Rs 3.75 lakh and Rs 1.7 lakh were imposed on two apartments, Raheja Pebble Bay and Sterling respectively, for failing to process 100 percent waste within their premises. Both the apartments are in Radhakrishna Temple ward, north Bengaluru.
BBMP imposed a penalty of Rs 1,000 on each unit in the apartments and depending on the number of units, the penalty will run into lakhs.
In situ composting was made mandatory for apartments in 2016 and BBMP has been asking apartments to comply with the rule.
The order directs apartment complexes which have 50 or more units and gated communities that are 5,000 square feet or larger to ensure they process wet waste within the property.
Nilesh Deshpande, secretary of Pebble Bay Residents Association said, “We process close to 35% of waste within the apartment premises and the remaining is sent to a vendor who runs a processing unit called Swachha in Yelahanka. I don’t know on what grounds BBMP imposed this fine on us.”
“We were never sent any notice prior to this. On December 5, we received a notice asking us to be present in front of the BBMP office in our ward on December 7. Also, only 314 of 375 units in our apartment are occupied. But BBMP has levied a fine counting all 375,” he added.
BBMP commissioner BH Anil Kumar said they will levy penalty if apartments do not compost 100% of the organic waste they generate.
A senior BBMP official, however, said at apartments where in situ composting is not possible fully, they can tie up with waste processors authorised by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to treat the remaining waste.
