Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has approved the BBMP’s request to dispose of garbage at the Mittaganahalli quarry pit. The approval has come after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was fined by the Karnataka High Court for violating waste disposal regulations.

The letter issued by Srinivasulu, Member Secretary at KSPCB stated that the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) after examining the proposal hereby authorises the BBMP to set up and operate a waste processing, recycling, treatment, and disposal facility at survey no. 2 of the Mittaganahalli quarry pit.

The authorisation, which is valid until June 2023, applies to the BBMP’s application to use the quarry pit, which was submitted to the board in March 2020. The capacity of 18,000 metric tonnes per month has been approved.

The High Court last Saturday criticized the BBMP Chief Commissioner for the 2020 order and for sending waste to the Mittaganahalli quarry pit without the KSPCB’s approval. “The officers think they are above the law.  It is our responsibility to make them realise what law is,” the bench said.

The letter also stated that any violation of the provision of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 will attract the penal provision of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.