Poura karmikas’ hazardous working conditions shocks BBMP boss

Expressing his annoyance to the officials present, Gupta said, “There should be some humanity shown to poura karmikas. Even their health is important.” Pointing out that it is poura karmikas who discharge their duty diligently in keeping Bengaluru clean, Gupta said they should be provided with all kinds of safety equipment such as shoes, gloves, face masks and sanitizers. Besides, all pourakamikas, whether permanent or on a contract basis, should be provided with the same uniform bearing a BBMP logo, he instructed.

The BBMP Administrator was at the Gandhinagar mustering centre to see for himself the waste disposal process, from auto tipper collection to transfer of the waste to compactors.

‘Clear footpaths’

On seeing debris accumulated on the footpath, he directed it to be cleared immediately. He said damaged footpaths should be repaired right away and illegal stalls put up on the footpath should be cleared. Old vehicles abandoned on the road for months should be towed away in coordination with the police, he said.

Ward rankings

A suggestion was made that wards should be classified as ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ based on how efficiently they dispose of waste, and the best wards should be recognized as ‘model’ wards.

Special Commissioner D Randeep said each ward would be ranked based on the efficiency of its door-to-door garbage collection and disposal.

Biogas unit

The BBMP Administrator also visited the biogas plant set up by the Palike. The plant has a capacity of 5 tonnes per day. Chief Engineer Viswanath said the electricity generated by the plant would power the street lights at Freedom Park.

West Zone Joint Commissioner Chidananda and nodal officer Geeta were present during Gupta’s visit.