Black spots of Bengaluru refuse to go away, though official figures put it at just 74 Premium

Despite having door-to-door garbage collection in the City, numerous black spots persist where mixed waste is indiscriminately dumped, posing a significant challenge for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to clear them effectively. Over the last two years, the BBMP has attempted to reduce the number of black spots in the City, but they still persist.

Despite having door-to-door garbage collection in the City, numerous black spots persist where mixed waste is indiscriminately dumped, posing a significant challenge for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to clear them effectively. Over the last two years, the BBMP has attempted to reduce the number of black spots in the City, but they still persist.

In 2021, the BBMP claimed to have eliminated the number of black spots to 1,000 from 2,500. With the assistance of The Ugly Indians, BBMP marshals, and pourakarmikas, the BBMP had begun mapping blackspots which has now reduced the number to 74 as on July 23, going by the official claim. The BBMP had also started an initiative in 2019 to convert black spots into nurseries. Though the initiative did well in many areas, BBMP says that it is a temporary move and not a permanent solution to eliminate black spots in the City.  

According to data provided by the BBMP, in March 2023, Bengaluru had 149 blackspots spread across all the zones in Bengaluru, with the highest number of blackspots identified in Mahadevapura (67), and the lowest number of black spots in Bengaluru West, Yelahanka, and Dasarahalli, with two black spots in each zone. However, over the last four months, as of July 2023, the total number of black spots stand at 74 with the highest number of black spots again identified in Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli, both with 22 blackspots each, and lowest in RR Nagar with zero black spots identified. 

However, not all are convinced by the official data of the BBMP. They say that more black spots are clearly all over the place that BBMP seems to have turned a blind eye to.

Raghav Kumar, a member of a resident welfare association in an apartment on Doddaballapur Road in the Yelahanka zone says, “It is impossible that we have just two black spots in our zone. Although the Mavallipura landfill is no longer functional, the area around it has become a dump yard for garbage. Along the stretches of Ramagondanahalli, there are multiple black spots where there is no one to keep an eye on. That one stretch itself has more than two black spots.”

Justifying the numbers, BBMP Chief Marshal Rajbir Singh said, “Keeping track and procuring accurate data about black spots in an absolute sense is impossible. Black spots that are cleared and noted in the day are back sometimes in the evenings. As we speak now, a new black spot will emerge. Zones like Yelahanka, Dasarahalli, and Bengaluru West may have just two black spots according to data on a said day, but it could be less or more within just a few hours. It is hard for the BBMP to keep track of black spots in the city.”

Speaking particularly about the Mahadevapura situation to The Hindu, Harish Kumar, Special Commissioner, SWM, blamed the “rurban” culture in Mahadevapura for the zone having the highest number of black spots. “The zone has a very rurban (rural-urban) culture due to which waste management is lacking in the area. Mahadevapura is the highest income and waste generating zone in Bengaluru, with a rising number of tech-parks and apartments, where people claim to not have the time for segregation and management. On the other hand, people in the rural pockets on the outskirts may lack knowledge of garbage management. Due to this the number of black spots in the area are not controllable,” he said.