With no scientifically-designed garbage transfer stations puts workers and residents in peril

As the compaction happens, leachate from the waste seeps down onto the road. A portion of the road and the footpath are now covered in it. Sharat and other workers finish their work by around noon and leave, but as the day progresses people who pass by throw their garbage bags onto the footpath.

Sharat (name changed), a waste picker from North Bengaluru, sets off at around 6.30 am in his auto tipper for door-to-door waste collection every morning. The wet waste is taken to a nearby spot along a busy road adjoining a defence property, where he and his helper manually transfer it from the tipper to the compactor trucks.

As the compaction happens, leachate from the waste seeps down onto the road. A portion of the road and the footpath are now covered in it. Sharat and other workers finish their work by around noon and leave, but as the day progresses people who pass by throw their garbage bags onto the footpath.

The metamorphosis of transfer stations into blackspots has been a common occurrence across the city. Often seen along roadsides, above footpaths, and under flyovers, they continue to add to the woes of garbage workers as well as residents.

“It would have been good if there were some arrangements like a shed where the transfer happens. It would help to do the transfer out of sight and that would probably help to avoid this situation,” Sharat says.

Several transfer stations see waste left behind for days resulting in rot, stench and rodent menace. Animals tugging at the garbage lying around is a common scene at most transfer stations.

When affected residents complain, the workers move the operations to other locations within the ward. With no permanent fix in sight, the same story plays in loops across wards in the city.

“Transfer stations should have proper infrastructure like a shed and a ramp,” says Pushkara S.V. who has been an advisor to several municipalities for efficient solid waste management.