BENGALURU: Thousands of residents from Electronic City staged a protest demanding the immediate closure of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Municipal Solid Waste Processing Plant at Chikkanagamangala. The protest comes in response to alarming findings from inspection reports by Joint Committees formed under National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders in 2019 and 2022. These reports exposed severe operational lapses at the plant, along with a strong, foul odour spreading up to a 4 km radius.
Pranay Dubey, president of Electronics City Rising, a resident welfare association, stated that leachate from the plant has been contaminating nearby water bodies, leading to environmental hazard. “Due to leachate entering the water and air pollution, we have witnessed mass fish kills in Chikkanagamangala Lake. “Despite the NGT’s penalties and High Court directives to contain leachate leakage, odour, and pollution, the issue remains unsolved,” said Dubey.
Rajesh Reddy, former member of Town Municipal Corporation of Konappana Agrahara said, “The cattle must have consumed water from a pond that is contaminated due to the leachate seepage. The air is polluted, groundwater is contaminated, and lakes and ponds are toxic. There’s also a severe mosquito menace-- all because of BBMP’s failure to manage this waste processing plant,”he added.
Following the protest, Zonal Joint Commissioner Madhu visited the site and assured residents that she would escalate the matter to the Chief Commissioner and other authorities within a week.