Conclusion

A total of 452 dump site locations were surveyed for their spatial pattern, size, spread area, waste nature and composi- tion. The dominant components of wastes recorded in open dumps located outside the core city area were construction

TABLE 1

Waste quantity dumped in open disposal sites across the city

Core

Predominant waste categories Location Q

Outer

uantity (Mg) Location Q

Periphery

uantity (Mg) Location Quantity (Mg)

(Nos.)

(Nos.)

(Nos.)

Construction debris

4

170.3

58

25576.6

63

34140.4

Organic

10

147.2

23

1089.7

35

770.2

Plastic

5

14.2

15

329.2

37

693.3

Plastic+Debris

2

140.2

Plastic+Paper

1

1.9

Old

1

2.6

Others

1

12.0

3

192.9

9

232.8

Recycling rejects

1

138.57

Total

21

346.3

99

27188.4

148

36117.3

debris, followed by plastic and organic fraction of waste. Whereas in dumps located in the core area, the largest num- ber of dumps had organic wastes, followed by plastic and construction debris. Average height of dump site varies from

0.56 m (core city) to 0.75 m (outside of core city area). At frequent intervals, the dumps in the core area are cleared and sent to processing or dump sites in the non-core areas. Total waste quantity dumped in 452 open disposal sites is 213310 Mg, which is 17% of total annual waste generated in Banga- lore city. The availability of and access to common lands, abandoned agricultural lands, lower population density, dis- tance from city centre and from main road networks play an important role in the choice of starting an unauthorized dump site and for its continued use.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the participation of the student volunteers from Christ University, St. Joseph’s Col- lege and MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore in this study. We also thank Shreejith K. for his contribution while conducting this survey. The financial support was pro- vided by the City Corporation of Greater Bangalore (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, BBMP) and is gratefully acknowledged.