Nalgonda: Villagers in the vicinity of the Nalgonda municipality face a health risk because of the foul and nauseating smell emanating from the dumping yard as well as smoke as the waste catches fire frequently.
The dumping yard is located 10 km from the town but is close to Chandanapally, Khajiramaram and Sheshamma Gudem villages and the Udaya Samudram, the main water source for 132 habitations in the district.
About 86 metric tonnes of waste is dumped at the yard on an everyday basis. Over 8,000 people residing in the three villages in Nalgonda Rural mandal are exposed to the pollution which is causing respiratory problems among the residents.
The municipal authorities make no effort to douse the fire or take preventive measures. In a bizarre take, they allege that the fire is caused by cigarettes and bidis thrown by the passers-by.
Telagamalla Laxmamma, a 65-year-old woman from Chandanapally village, said that their village gets filled with smoke from the yard’s fire almost every morning. She has undergone treatment for lung infection but continues to suffer from cough.
The disposal of untreated hospital waste is adding to the problem: This has emerged as a major illness causing development in the area. Chandanapalli Paladugu Nagarjuna, who resides nearby. said that hazardous hospital waste and animal carcasses are being thrown in the dumping yard.
Chandanapalli villagers sacrificed 1,000 acres of land for the Udaya Samudram but political leaders are not heeding the demand of nearby residents to relocate the dumping yard. The water in Udaya Samudram is getting contaminated and polluted due to the dumping yard, which was set up in 2011 without taking geographical factors into consideration, Nagarjuna added.
Pulmonologist Dr Sheik Fiyaz said that burning plastic and other urban waste releases toxic gas into the air and causes major health problems, particularly respiratory diseases while the smoke and ash from the fire causes eye irritation and ENT problems, he added.
Nalgonda municipal commissioner Syed Musab Ahmed said that it had become difficult to control the fires in the dumping yard. He denied the allegation of the villagers that the municipal staff was intentionally setting fire to the waste.
“We have divided the dumping yard into different blocks to confine the fire to one place. There is no permission to hospitals and any agency to dump waste in the dumping yard,” he added.
