BHUBANESWAR: Tension prevailed near the Bhuasuni dumping yard on Friday after residents of Daruthenga clashed with police deployed to guard the garbage trucks transporting solid waste from the City. Eight police personnel sustained injuries in stone pelting by the locals following which the cops lobbed tear gas shells and fired rubber bullets to disperse the unruly agitators.
While protests by burning tyres and blocking roads continued from dawn, at 11.30 am, a group comprising 20 to 25 youths marched towards the police cordon all of a sudden and started pelting stones. “Their was no provocation from our side. The policemen were caught by surprise when the stone pelting started. There was no option left but to defend ourselves,” DCP Satyabrata Bhoi said.
The injured cops were shifted to Capital Hospital for treatment. By 2.30 pm, 132 trucks had dumped garbage at the Bhuasuni site despite resistance from the villagers who demanded that the solid waste management plant be shifted to Tulasadehipur. The dumping of garbage took place under the vigilance of 15 platoons of police force deployed on the main road, dumping site and other strategic locations. The activity will resume on Saturday under tight security, Bhoi said.