The dump, the residents say, has been a health hazard as well as an environmental hazard.
The Environment Support Group (ESG) and Dalit Sangarsh Samithi(DSS) requested the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Siddaiah to come to the site and personally see the travails of the villages living in the vicinity and beyond.
When Siddiah visited the site on Saturday, the villagers had given him first-hand accounts their misery because of the dump. They said they had contracted skin allergies and diseases, fevers, and gastrointestinal disorders. Even during the day they have to use mosquito nets, they said. And the stray dog menace has increased.
In addition to these problems, they showed him lakes, ponds, wells and bore wells, which have become toxic.
The eco groups impressed upon him the danger of increasing number of scavenging birds that threaten the defense aircraft of the Yelahanka Air Force.
The base is situated just five kilometers away from the dump.
Whose dump is it?
Hyderabad-based private firm Ramky Environmental Engineers were given the contract for disposing off garbage scientifically. They produce fertilizer from at least 35 percent of the garbage while the rest goes to land fill.
Nearly 700 tons of garbage is cared away to this site from Bengaluru every day. The dumping organic material is causing irreparable damage to the land, water, and people.
The villagers and ESG allege that the firm violated the contractual obligations.
Mr Leo F. Saldanha of ESG said, "The private contractor is continuously violating the terms of the contract. The landfill is very close to defense establishments, drinking water sources, etc., and the private firm claims that the landfill is scientifically run in total conformity with applicable norms.
However, the villagers refute this claim and the Commissioner was apprised that the villagers were right when he visited the site.”
Commissioner orders some measures
The commissioner, after hearing the villagers’ misery, announced some measures.
He directed his subordinates to conduct free health-check-ups every month in surrounding villages.
The water quality in the lakes, wells, and ponds will be tested in the next three days, and pesticides will be sprayed to control mosquitoes, he said.
He said he would impress upon the government the problem of crop losses, and also would make efforts to get Cuavery water to the villages.
His organization would get in touch with the private firm which was employed for garbage disposal, and ensure the contractual obligations are adhered to and garbage disposed off scientifically.
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