BENGALURU: Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister JC Madhuswamy on Wednesday informed the Assembly that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will soon chair a meeting to discuss Bengaluru's garbage menace. He said this after Doddaballapur Independent MLA T Venkataramanaiah raised the issue of Bengaluru’s solid waste being dumped in his constituency.
Congress leader Krishna Byre Gowda noted that even if Venkataramaiah consented to the government’s suggestions, the locals had lost their patience. Residents of Nelamangala and Doddaballapur are concerned about the leachate from solid waste contaminating ground water reserves, borewells, open wells and even agricultural land. Dumping solid waste in open quarries may be a better solution rather than dumping it in landfills, he suggested.
Sarvajnanagar MLA KJ George too supported the idea. BTM Layout MLA Ramalinga Reddy told the House that tankers clandestinely dump hazardous waste, which adds to the problem. Since the CM was not present in the House, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri requested Law minister JC Madhuswamy to respond on behalf of the government.
The minister said he had visited the location where solid waste was dumped every day and since the model code of conduct was in force, he could not take Venkataramanaiah along with him.