Solid waste management gets lion’s share

BBMP says this would help payment of bills

The BBMP Budget, which was presented on Saturday, has allocated ₹1,622.33 crore to handle the city’s gargantuan garbage problem. The civic body justified the allocation and pointed out that lower allocations in the past in solid waste management (SWM) had resulted in bills remaining unpaid for months on end. The allocation, however, includes ongoing capital work amounting to ₹522 crore. The huge allocation has been made taking into cognisance the financial support that the proposed independent body for SWM would require initially. With street sweeping and welfare of pourakarmika continuing to be the responsibility of the BBMP, the civic body announced a slew of welfare measures for the civic workforce, starting from providing ₹5,000 to each pourakarmika under direct payment system to mark Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary every year. The Budget has also allocated ₹9.50 crore towards education fee reimbursement up to ₹1 lakh for children of pourakarmikas and Group D employees of BBMP. That apart, ₹27 crore has been provisioned towards medical funds for pourakarmikas, Group D and general public.