Bengaluru: For years, residents who leave home early for work have complained about missing the city’s morning garbage collection vehicles. Now, in what could signal a shift in Bengaluru’s waste management system, Bengaluru South City Corporation (BSCC) has launched a pilot evening door-to-door garbage collection programme in five wards to assess whether a second collection round is needed.BSCC commissioner KN Ramesh told TOI the initiative is a pilot exercise and no official decision has been taken on implementing it across the corporation. “This collection is happening in areas where people are unable to hand over garbage during morning rounds. The trial is intended to understand whether there is a genuine need for evening collection,” he said.Under the pilot, waste collection vehicles operate between 5pm and midnight in four wards of Bommanahalli assembly constituency and Hongasandra ward. While around 160 vehicles continue to run morning collection services in these wards, 20-25 autos have been deployed for the evening rounds. In Hongasandra alone, six vehicles, including three each for wet and dry waste, have been pressed into service during evening hours.According to Ramesh, the initiative is also aimed at tackling roadside garbage blackspots. While BSCC has already rolled out the pilot, other city corporations are taking different approaches.Bengaluru North City Corporation (BNCC) commissioner Pommala Sunil Kumar said, “The primary demand from citizens is that garbage vehicles come regularly and cover every household. We have developed a micro masterplan where every household will know its designated garbage collection vehicle. My priority is to ensure door-to-door waste collection functions properly.”Bengaluru West City Corporation (BWCC) commissioner Rajendra KV said there is demand for evening collection in some areas, but the corporation first wants data to identify where the service would be most beneficial. “I have asked my team to study this and we will facilitate it wherever there is a genuine need,” he said.Bengaluru East City Corporation (BECC), meanwhile, is looking at evening collection from a commercial waste management perspective. Additional commissioner Lokande Snehal said, “Our immediate priority is ensuring regular door-to-door collection. We also have resource constraints. For now, we are looking at evening collection mainly in markets and commercial areas where waste generation is high later in the day. We have no plans as of now to send vehicles door-to-door in the evening.”Bengaluru Central City Corporation (BCCC) was unavailable for comment.Shanti Tumula, an urban waste management expert, said, “Evening collection should not be introduced across the city. It is essential on commercial roads where street vendors sell vegetables and other items, and in low-income settlements where residents leave for work early and cannot store garbage outside their homes. These areas need to be identified in every ward and provided with a dedicated collection round. However, the first priority must be to fix regular morning door-to-door collection, which is still inconsistent in several areas. Any evening collection system must also have GPS tracking and proper monitoring to ensure vehicles actually operate.”
