BENGALURU: The three-day protest by residents of Mittiganahalli and Kannur against Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) affected door-to-door garbage collection as well as clearing of waste from the city to the landfill. With protesters blocking entry of garbage trucks to the Mittiganahalli waste processing plant, piles of waste accumulated across the city, especially in Mahadevpura, BBMP East and BBMP South Zones.
For years, the villagers have been demanding that the Palike address the leachate issue from the garbage dumped there.
Ashok S, president of Kannur Gram Panchayat, said the panchayat consists of 15 villages that have been severely affected due to 450 trucks dumping waste in the Mittiganahalli waste processing plant. The Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited agreed to their demands in writing on Wednesday evening and the local MLA also has been briefed.
“The villagers are at the receiving end of the BBMP apathy. As much as 300 crore litre of leachate has seeped into the villages and the civic body is least bothered about this. The villagers are suffering due to the unbearable stench. As there was rain, the leachate also entered the 1.5-km stormwater drain connecting Kannur to Doddagubbi. Since we have objected to the entry of trucks, the Palike officials have agreed to build a parallel stormwater drain at a cost of Rs 22 crore and also approved Rs 70 crore to set up a 1 MLD leachate treatment plant,” said Ashoka.
He said about 60 per cent of waste from BBMP is being sent to Mittiganahalli. “As we called off the protest on Wednesday night, the normal collection will resume.”
Meanwhile, residents of Vignana Nagar, Whitefield, HAL, Basavanagar, Vijinapura and other wards in Mahadevpura as well as in Bengaluru East, South and other areas, said pourakarmikas had not turned up to collect waste sicnce Monday and garbage has piled up on street corners.
“With mounds of garbage lying on the streets for the last few days and the rainfall daily, there could be health issues if not addressed,” said Srujan Kadamba, a techie and Whitefield resident.
A senior BBMP official said garbage collection will resume normally from Friday as trucks will start ferrying waste to the landfill from Thursday evening.
“As there is a huge pile of garbage to be cleared from parts of Bengaluru, the situation will become normal in a day or two,” said the official.