Angry residents of Mandur took their protests against dumping garbage late into Wednesday night. They have been stalling garbage trucks from entering the village.
Late Wednesday night saw groups of villagers camping at Mandur’s approach road just off state highway 35, about 22 km from here.
The road was virtually blocked as villagers set afire a big log of wood and large tyres.
“We will not allow any lorry to go beyond this point. We’ll set them on fire,” shouted an angry villager as policemen looked on.
Chandra, a native of Andhra Pradesh, working for a local garbage contractor, had parked his BBMP garbage truck just after National Highway 4. “Everything was fine till yesterday. We usually take the truck to the landfill around 10 pm. But as it turns out, the villagers are fed up. They fractured my driver’s right hand before the police rescued us,” he said.
He added that 600 trucks were stranded. “The only option we have,” he said, “is to go back and park the truck in front of my contractor’s house. I don’t see myself doing this job anymore.” Meanwhile, striking villagers, many under the influence of alcohol, were determined not to allow dumping of garbage in their surroundings.