Week 2: Public Health, Sanitation and Waste Management: Is a Decentralised Approach the Way Out?
Public Health, Sanitation and Waste Management: Is a Decentralised Approach the Way Out?
29th March 2021, Monday
One of the first challenges that climate planning throws up is: how to deal with climate change and its impacts? Is decentralisation of governance the most optimal way out? Public health, sanitation and waste management sectors are intricately linked in not only ensuring all are healthy, but that the toxic impacts of our living are not a burden for future generations. It has been argued time and again that centralised response strategies are resource heavy and cause societal dysfunctionality, and the way forward is to ensure ward-level governance becomes real in every way, especially in securing public health and sanitation for all. The question is if this will help tackle the impacts of sanitation and waste burdens on public and ecological health, and if there are clear methods to decarbonise waste management whilst ensuring social justice is fundamental, particularly of workers handling waste. There also are “climate solutions” that need to be interrogated, such as incineration-based waste-to-energy which is being aggressively promoted as a solution.
Sri. Randeep D, IAS, Special Commissioner (SWM & Admin), BBMP
Mr. Randeep is an officer of Indian Administrative Service of the Batch of 2006. He holds a B.E in Electronics and Communication and a Masters degree in Public Policy. He has held the position of Special Commissioner, SWM & Administration in BBMP since July 2018. His interests include playing cricket, reading books and cycling.
Sri. S. Venkatesh Shekar, Chief Environmental Officer, KSPCB
Mr. Shekar is currently working as Chief Environmental Officer in the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil, Master of Planning in Environment. He has over 30 years of experience in environmental management. He is a member on the panel constituted by the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka to frame guidelines on waste management techniques. He is also an Expert member on SWM in the BBMP.
Dr. Shirdi Prasad Tekur, Trustee, Environment Support Group, Pediatrician and Community Health Expert
Retired as Captain from the Indian Army, Dr. Tekur has extensive training experience in various public health and counselling services, and is also a consultant on disaster management and rehabilitation matters. He holds an MBBS, MCH and has worked in the formation of the Community Health Cell and in establishing Community Health Departments in various hospitals and medical colleges.
Sri. Srinivas, Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, Mavallipura, Bangalore
Mr Srinivas is an activist for farmers’, workers’ and environmental rights, and has been actively involved in the struggle against illegal waste dumping at Mavallipura. He is the State General Secretary of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti-Kempa Seve and the workers’ union president at two private companies. He is also currently serving as a paralegal volunteer at the District Legal Services Authority for Bangalore Urban District.
Smt. Gangamma & Ms. Maitreyi, BBMP Powrakarmikara Sangha
The BBMP Powrakarmika Sangha is the registered trade union of powrakarmikas in Bengaluru. It has been fighting for over a decade for the rights of powrakarmikas. It led the struggle for the removal of the exploitative and corrupt contract system and towards the recognition of powrakarmikas across the state of karnataka as the direct employees of the BBMP
Smt. Poonam Bir Kasturi, Founder, Daily Dump
Mrs. Kasturi is the founder of Daily Dump and has spent the last 15 years understanding decentralized composting solutions for urban environments. She enjoys the intersection of design, culture, climate action and systems change.