BENGALURU: Thousands of villagers of Nagondanahalli in Hagadur ward, in Mahadevapura assembly segment, are severely impacted by toxic smoke emanating from garbage burnt by unknown persons over the past three months. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has allegedly failed to take action, despite repeated complaints.
Residents said plastic and other garbage is being dumped and burnt frequently over the past three months, and the BBMP assistant engineer and health inspector, despite several complaints, have not solved the issue. Frustrated over this, the residents want the government to demerge the village from BBMP.
Manjunath NV, a resident of Nagondanahalli, said that apart from this village, Tirumalashetty Halli, Channasandra and Samethanahalli villages are also impacted by toxic smoke as garbage is dumped and burnt at a place which falls between the four villages.
“The site owners are also callous as they may be getting rent for their place for garbage dumping. BBMP is not doing enough to stop them and issue notice to the owners who are also liable,” said Manjunath, adding that the entire village, which has a voting population of around 7,000, is suffering due to BBMP’s inaction.
He added that they are in distress after the merger as the village is denied any basic infrastructure, and villagers want BBMP to take up the process of demerger. “80-ft Road and 30-ft Road in the village limits are in bad shape, and sewage has been flowing on the roads for the past few weeks.
On one side, we have the burning of garbage and toxic smoke, and on the other, roads are in pathetic condition with sewage flowing on them. As this issue has not been addressed by civic agencies, we would like to return to panchayat jurisdiction,” he stressed.
BBMP AE Gururaj said the health inspector has been informed about the issue and will deal with it. Health inspector Prakash said he has deployed marshals. The fire was contained but the problem has restarted. Dr Syed Sirajuddin Madani, Chief Health Officer, BBMP, admitted that burning of garbage is a big health concern as waste contains plastic and other substances that may cause problems to the public.