BENGALURU: The death of a three-year-old girl, who fell into a waste pile set afire at Shivajinagar police quarters and succumbed to burn injuries, has put the spotlight on the garbage menace in police residential enclaves. Experts and civic activists have demanded strict action against burning of garbage and sought streamlining of waste management in the dwellings.NS Ramakanth, co-founder, Solid Waste Management Round Table, said police quarters in the city, including large ones like the KSRP facility in Koramangala and those in Adugodi, Thanisandra, Whitefield and Victoria Layout among others, have about 10,000 dwelling units and generate five tonnes of garbage every day. “But most of them lack proper waste management. Garbage mounds lying uncleared or being burnt and other kinds of mismanagement are common,” he said.Ramakanth said he had written to IPS officer Praveen Sood when he was the police commissioner about resolving the problem in police quarters. “I had proposed segregation of waste and setting up of composting units in all police quarters. There was some initial enthusiasm but it fizzled out. Even now I am trying (through BBMP) to fix a meeting with the top cop but to no avail,” he added.Seema Sharma of Kasamukta Bellandur, a citizen volunteer group, said the garbage burning menace is not limited to police quarters. “Every day, I see at least five to six garbage piles on fire. It indicates a failure of the waste management system. We from citizen groups are conducting doorto-door awareness drives about the ill-effects of setting waste on fire,” she added.Odette Katrak, activist and co-founder of Beautiful Bengaluru, said the girl’s death is only one example of the extremities of the menace. “Burning garbage has become a norm and many are not aware of the ill-effects. There should be a mechanism to collect garbage from small vendors,” she added.Archana Kashyap, another member of Solid Waste Management Round Table, said burning garbage is as bad as setting fire to someone’s property and should draw an equivalent punishment. “Often, pourakarmikas burn garbage when they are asked to clear black spots,” she said.

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