Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw urges BBMP to launch ‘cleanest ward’ contest in Bengaluru

Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) highlighting the waste management efforts of Vandse village in Karnataka’s Kundapura Taluk, urging Bengaluru to adopt similar practices.
The video highlights how the village effectively segregates and recycles its waste, presenting it as a model for sustainable waste management. Shaw, impressed by the village’s approach, called for similar initiatives in Bengaluru, urging the Karnataka government to adopt a ward-by-ward garbage-free model in the city.
In her post, Shaw emphasized, “A role model for all of us. Can we create this garbage-free model ward by ward in our city?” She also recommended that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) launch a “Cleanest Ward” contest to encourage residents and local authorities to focus on waste management and cleanliness.
In response to Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s post urging Bengaluru to adopt a garbage-free model like Vandse village, several reactions emphasized the need for a more structured approach to waste management.
One suggestion was to divide Bengaluru’s wards into sub-wards, similar to the Apartment Act of 1972, with elected committees managing waste segregation, water conservation, rainwater harvesting, parking, and park maintenance through bylaws. “Wards should be further divided into sub-wards, and the elected committee within the sub-ward should manage waste segregation, water, rainwater harvesting, parking, and maintain parks and grounds,” one commenter proposed.
Others highlighted the importance of unit-level waste segregation and collection, calling it a simple yet impactful solution: “Unit-level segregation and emptying of waste is the best solution. Simple yet so impactive. This will reduce huge landfills of unsegregated waste,” said another.
Ideas like introducing sub-contests such as “Cleanest Office,” “Cleanest Road,” and “Cleanest Area” within each ward were also put forward to inspire collective action: “A step further could be sub-contests like ‘Cleanest Office,’ ‘Cleanest Road,’ and ‘Cleanest Area’ within each ward to engage more people.”
However, some expressed skepticism, with one comment pointing out, “In Bangalore it’s not possible since garbage mafia is too large to handle.”
(Also Read: ‘ELCITA, not BBMP, should fix Bengaluru’s roads’: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw urges Karnataka government)
Recently, the 71-year-old entrepreneur urged the Karnataka government to assign the maintenance of the city’s roads to the Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) instead of relying on contractors from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).