Garbage trucks in dead of night! Villagers fume

Bengaluru: Although the waste processing units were closed a month ago in both Kannahalli and Seegehalli in response to the locals' protests, the villagers claim the trucks have again started entering the villages with police escort carrying garbage for processing and have threatened to go on a hunger strike if they continue to dump the city’s waste in their midst.

Complained Mr Channappa, president of the Kannahalli-Seegehalli Kasa Vilevari Horata Samithi, “ Over the past few days,  garbage trucks have been entering the village accompanied by police and when they are stopped , claim  they have orders from  top police and BBMP officials to bring the garbage here. But when we checked with the senior officers of both departments, they seemed to have no clue about this. We have stopped them from dumping the garbage and will go on a hunger strike, if they continue to bring it here.”

The villagers also claimed to have informed Bengaluru Development Minister, KJ George, and lamented that he had not kept his promise of  visiting the villages for a spot inspection.

“Things are getting out of hand both in Kannahalli and Seegehalli, as the stench has become so unbearable that people are not able to come out of their homes. But no one in the government cares and they still want to  dump the garbage here despite the government shutting the units,”  Mr Chanappa added.

The villagers also belive that the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), which has been stored in their midst, is highly inflammable. “This fuel is processed from garbage like plastic, cardboards, and rubber, which are made up of harmful gases. If the fuel catches fire, the smoke can create catastrophe in villages in a radius of 5 kms from here,” warned villagers of Kannahalli.

One resident of Kannahalli, Lakshman Rao, said  the garbage and RDF processing unit were given to a private company to handle, and although its  contract was coming to an end in February this year, neither the BBMP nor the government seemed to care. “They have just shut the unit and left the garbage to rot, leading to an unbearable stench and a growing mosquito menace,” he lamented.

While several families, who are able to afford it, have moved from Kannahalli and Seegehalli to other places, others, who do not have the money to shift,   have stayed back, fighting the stench and pollution. Said Ms Vimala,  a private school teacher from Kannahalli,”We are plagued by swarms of mosquitoes even during the day and when it gets dark things  becomes more unbearable. The stench spreads across a radius of 4 to 5 km . Only if the officials live here for a day, will they  realize our ordeal,” she cried in anguish. 

When contacted, a senior BBMP officer said the Commissioner and Mayor  had scheduled a meeting with the villagers to arrive at a permanent solution to their problem, but the day had not been decided on as yet.