Hello!!!
I am Aryan Ghose and I am currently studying in Christ University, Bengaluru. I am currently doing a dual degree consisting of BCOM and ACCA( Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).
About a month ago I had started interning for Reap Benefit. The work they did intrigued me as they helped solving the major issues in our environment that not many people take action towards or even talk about. I wanted to work on waste management as I believe that even though India is the highest populated country it does not give it an excuse to be highly polluted . This is very important to me as the blackspots not only affect the lifestyle of the residents but also puts a bad impression on the tourists who expect certain decency regarding cleanliness while visiting .
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Although the waste management in BTM layout stage 1 is fairly regular , there is a lot of garbage consisting of wet and dry waste( around 5-6 kgs) thrown in and around the area . The locals dump their waste during the night so they don’t get scolded and fined by the authorities( waste collectors and police officers). The locals are lower and upper middle class people. Waste segregation is regular in this area. The areas where the locals dump their waste as they find it convenient and those spots become a black spot overtime. This blackspot does not affect anyone at the moment but if it is let to expand it can cause a major problem for the residents , shopkeepers as well as garbage collectors in the future such as life threatening diseases, road block etc.
DISCOVER:
The problem at hand is the increasing waste on the side of a narrow road some of which gets deposited into the drain right next to the waste. The blackspot is located around 300 metres ( approx.) to the left of Majestic Residency, Tavarekere , Madiwala, Bangalore ( BTM stage 1). The people who are getting affected are the residents and the shopkeepers in and around this area as this blackspot produces a disgusting odour and also attracts mosquitoes that can spread diseases. I first discovered this problem while I was casually taking a walk around the neighborhood (around the first week of June) .The picture of the blackspot is shown below.
INVESTIGATION:
The waste in this area consists of plastic waste, wet waste, wood waste and it also contains stone and brick debris. On further speculation, I spoke to 3-4 shopkeepers around that area. They provided valuable information stating that no one throws the garbage during the day. They added that the locals nearby come during the night and throw the waste away so that they don’t get scolded and fined by the authorities( waste collectors and police). The people I spoke to about the blackspot told me that they were not affected by it yet which made me question , “ why do they have to wait till the problem becomes a bigger one and affects them in order to atleast report it ?”.
