RJ Usha was at the ‘Reimagine Waste 2’ Hackathon held recently at the IISc campus, Bangalore. As part of the event, she interviewed Shaheena for an episode of Radio Active’s waste management special show, Kasa Shramika Parisara Rakshaka.
Shaheena spoke about the challenges of waste collection, the main difficulty being people who do not follow segregation as advised by the BBMP. Waste workers, as a result, are often exposed to dangers of infection while dealing with medical waste – like used needles, bloodied cotton swabs, medicine bottles – mixed in with other waste.
——
RJ Usha was also in conversation with Manjula and Suhasini, who are powrakarmikas working at Gayathrinagar (Ward no. 76). They spoke about the high levels of segregation activity in the area, and how through awareness-building like pamphlet-distribution and announcements, other residents are also being encouraged to segregate #waste. They also spoke about the need for and importance of new dustbins for s#egregation into the dry waste, wet waste, and reject (sanitary) waste categories.
——-
The third interview features Anumanthu, who is a street vendor. He prepares home-made side dishes and condiments like papad, pickles, chutney pudi (powder), and more, and sells them. In the interview, he revealed his method of preparation and the difficulties involved in the process. Some of these food items require time-consuming work and need to be made by putting considerable strain on the hands.
Listen in….
—–
The ‘Reimagine Waste 2’ #Hackathon event was conducted from August 11th to 14th.
RJ Usha spoke to street vendor Mallegowda, Nanjappa and Prasanna Kumar from Yellahanka. They spoke about being roadside fast food sellers, offering breakfast, lunch and evening snacks to their customers. The BBMP, however, has instructed them not to conduct their business on the street side and not to use plastic.
Listen to more of the interview, here:
—–
RJ Usha also spoke to Harisha, who works as a powrakarmika. He spoke about the problem of having to deal with medical waste in the process of waste segregation. He also expressed the pressing need for basic equipment like hand gloves, good brooms, dust bins, and more, to make the work safer.
Listen in…
