According to sources two years after it first mooted the idea, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has once again proposed hiring retired army service personnel as ‘garbage marshals’ to keep a check on indiscriminate garbage dumping and burning in the city from January. Meanwhile the Palike’s top brass has sought the state government’s approval for the same. Presently, 15 such marshals are employed by the BBMP as part of a pilot project.
Accordingly the decision comes after the Karnataka High Court recently took up a fresh case relating to the city’s infamous garbage problem. Furthermore the first bench of the HC comprising Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice SG Pandit asked the Palike to come up with a “concrete plan” to keep the city clean by October 31 and hence the HC is hearing a batch of petitions regarding the garbage mess in the city.
Moreover Katyayani Chamraj, a former senior journalist and an activist, said, “The BBMP has been practicing contempt of court since 2012 in the matter. Further the HC had specifically ordered that garbage should be processed at a ward level. Presently only four wards (out of 198) in the last hearing had submitted an action plan to do so and even the vehicles used for waste collection are not compliant as per the court’s orders.”
