BBMP's hi-tech waste plant too raises stink

BENGALURU: “Complaints of headache, breathing and digestive problems have become part of our everyday lives ever since the BBMP inaugurated the garbage processing plant in Subbarayana Palya near Kumbalagodu village. What we did not expect was even our animals would fall ill like us some day,” rued Mallappa, a resident of Kumbalagodu.

Last year, with much fanfare the BBMP claimed it had inaugurated a state-of-art replica at Subbarayana Palya near Kengeri. They said the garbage processing plant had world-class infrastructure and waste would be managed efficiently.

However one year down the line the people staying in its vicinity are telling stories similar to that of Mandur few years ago. Not only does the plant receive more garbage than its original capacity, they are not treated regularly, the residents complain.

“Stench fills the air in Gerupalya, Subbrayana Palya, Kolur and surrounding areas all through the day. The recent rains only worsened the matter. Leachate generated at the plant directly joins the Kumbalagodu Lake and although the BBMP officials had promised that precautions would be taken to prevent leachate, nobody has bothered to look into our plight,” added Srinivas, another villager.

According to the residents, BBMP solid waste management officials (RR Nagar zone) are transferred every now and then, and the new officials are completely clueless about the working conditions of the plant.

“The leachate formation is so bad that all our groundwater and even borewells are contaminated. We are getting water which is totally unfit for consumption. Despite informing the officials regularly about our problems, they have failed to respond,” stressed Srinivas.

The villagers demanded that the garbage plant should be shifted immediately or the officials should provide a permanent solution. Further, they urged the BBMP to constitute a committee comprising villagers and BBMP officials, which will enable them to run the plant efficiently.

Water to be tested
Joint Commissioner (Health and Solid Waste Management) Sarfaraz Khan said that advanced technology was adopted at the plant which has a capacity to treat 200 tonnes of mixed waste. He said that water samples were collected from the areas in the plant vicinity and based on the report further action would be taken.