Delegation comprises senior IAS, KAS officers and two Pourakarmikas from BBMP

Mysore/Mysuru: Chairman of Karnataka State Safai Karmachari Commission Kote M. Shivanna is leading a delegation on a study tour to Singapore from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27 to study the way solid waste is managed, its technology and practices involved with the disposal of waste there.

The delegation comprises 17 persons, most of them senior IAS and KAS officers like the Chairman of Karnataka State Safai Karmachari Development Corporation, Director, Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Director, Directorate of Municipal Administration, Executive Secretary, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and Additional Director, Karnataka State Safai Karmachari Commission.

The team also includes translators, researchers, Chairman’s Secretary, Tumakuru City Corporation Commissioner, Joint Commissioner and two Pourakarmikas from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The original plan was, however, to send a team of Pourakarmikas drawn from several City Corporations, Municipal Councils, Town Municipalities and Town Panchayats so that they can get first-hand information about implementing the sanitation practices being implemented in Singapore.

It was supposed to be a lifetime experience that will help the Pourakarmikas hone their skills and learn new things in a foreign country and would create added awareness about cleanliness, hygiene and training in new methods.

At a recent event in Kolar, Commission Chairman Shivanna had said that the main intention of the Singapore tour is to study the cleanliness methods implemented in Singapore and the technology behind it.

When reporters asked him about the pending plan to take over 1,000 civic workers to Singapore, he replied, “As of now, only 17 persons, most of them IAS and KAS officers, are going to Singapore. In the days to come, a plan will be initiated to take 350 Pourakarmikas to Singapore,” he said.