Despite having door-to-door garbage collection in the City, numerous black spots persist where mixed waste is indiscriminately dumped, posing a significant challenge for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to clear them effectively. Over the last two years, the BBMP has attempted to reduce the number of black spots in the City, but they still persist.
In 2021, the BBMP claimed to have eliminated the number of black spots to 1,000 from 2,500. With the assistance of The Ugly Indians, BBMP marshals, and pourakarmikas, the BBMP had begun mapping blackspots which has now reduced the number to 74 as on July 23, going by the official claim. The BBMP had also started an initiative in 2019 to convert black spots into nurseries. Though the initiative did well in many areas, BBMP says that it is a temporary move and not a permanent solution to eliminate black spots in the City.
According to data provided by the BBMP, in March 2023, Bengaluru had 149 blackspots spread across all the zones in Bengaluru, with the highest number of blackspots identified in Mahadevapura (67), and the lowest number of black spots in Bengaluru West, Yelahanka, and Dasarahalli, with two black spots in each zone. However, over the last four months, as of July 2023, the total number of black spots stand at 74 with the highest number of black spots again identified in Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli, both with 22 blackspots each, and lowest in RR Nagar with zero black spots identified.
