Once known as garden city, Bangalore, with about 8 million population is now known for stink, shit and garbage thrown around in the nook and corners of the city where stray dogs (estimated around 30,000) pick up the leftover’s and when hit bite the innocent kids going to school. The two-wheelers and three-wheelers hit the innocent people moving on the walking tracks and the traffic police cops despite their whistles appear helpless. This is Bangalore once known for its greenery and walkable roads. The lakes are filed up with drainage dirt and emit smell and the dengue and chicken guinea are reported in the media and the Bangalore Brihat Mahanagar Palika (BBMP). Doctors keep denying media reports and the poor women and kids keep struggling in OPDs of the public hospitals and private clinics.

The biggest “stink” story is lakes and drains and garbage – its segregation at the source and its disposal – how, where and when. Let us know the fate of lakes first. There are many lakes around the city. Uttarahalli lake’s catchment area and its storm water drain leading into the lake have been encroached. The weeds have further choked it, making the Uttararahalli lake a septic tank emanating unbearable stench. When the Environment Support Group (ESG) – an NGO in Bangalore – filed a public interest litigation against the Bangalore development authority (BDA) and the BBMP – a lake authority was constituted as directed by the high court. This will be another authority like the BDA doing nothing! There are no dearth of inquires and reports on Bangalore City on what to do but nothing has been done and the stench continues. According to one AT Ramaswamy Report of 2007, nearly 2,488 cases of lake encroachment covering about 1,848 acres of lake area had been reported. Madivala Lake is another beautiful Lake near posh BTM Layout in Bangalore, where the bureaucrats and the rich stay, has turned into sewage tank. The state forest department gets Rs 1 crore for maintaining this lake but the money is spent for removing the weeds and not for overall maintenance!

The city is now sitting on a huge stock of garbage. According to rough estimates, as much as 4000 tons of garbage is generated daily. Contractors have used Mandur village for dumping the waste, where the villagers have been protesting after a few deaths due to respiratory ailments were reported in the area.

The new commissioner of BBMP, IAS officer Rajnesh Goel, is struggling to make segregation at the source as the new mantra for garbage disposal.   That is at the household level but what about the final disposal – where and how with what outcomes? Boston city in the US is generating energy with city garbage. Why not Bangalore?

The biggest problem of Bangalore is its governance. Despite the BBMP being a constitutional body as per the 74th constitutional amendment, where the mayor and its councilors are like the chief minster and MLAs , the Mayor is elected only for one year. Why the mayor cannot get a full term of five years, like that of the chief minster and prime minister, to show the results?

Late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was a visionary and brought 73rd (rural local bodies like panchayats) and 74th (urban local bodies like BBMP) amendments to make these institutions instruments of effective governance. But ironically the chief ministers of the states do not empower them with funds, functionaries and functions.

Compared to cities like London, where the Olympic was huge success mainly because of an effective role of the mayor, our Commonwealth Games in Delhi faced huge criticism. It was managed by Suresh Kalmadi who later went to Jail as well.

Till few years back, there used to be Bangalore Agenda Task Force, a partnership between the citizens, corporate and the administrative agency, was established. In this, ministers looked towards the corporate sector for help and support and tried to make Bangalore not just a technology hub but also a livable city.

There are many examples of smarter cities like IBM smarter city projects in Rio De Janeiro, Berlin, Beijing, Dublin, Singapore and New York where technology has been used for crime detection and road safety issues. The IBM Tech Guru Gurudath Banaver says “The IBM Real Time Crime Centre in New York has brought down the crimes in the city to a great extent” (Read Scott Anthony The New Corporate Garage, Harvard Business Review Sept 2012).

Why can’t we implement the same here? Why can’t the BBMP leaders invite the global tech leaders, already based in the city, to come out and thrash out solutions for garbage problems which Bangalore city is facing?

The only dialogue that the commissioner of BBMP, Rajnesh Goel is having is with the garbage contractors on where to dump the garbage. Instead he should interact with the garbage technology experts on how to generate energy out of it and make Bangalore clean and livable city.