The Hindu     31.08.2012

Mandur residents okay dumping for a month

After meeting with Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, people living around Mandur landfill have agreed to allow garbage from the city to be dumped there for the next one month.

A delegation from the community met Mr. Shettar on Thursday. According to a communiqué, the Chief Minister directed Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Rajneesh Goel to clear the accumulated garbage at the landfill within one year after processing it. The community demanded supply of potable water to 15 affected villages as its sources were polluted, besides compensating farmers for crop loss. They also urged him to ask BBMP to stop dumping garbage at night.

The BBMP was also directed to repair the roads in Mandur and surrounding areas, besides controlling the spread of diseases and stench by spraying chemicals at the landfill site. Mr. Shettar agreed to approve garbage processing projects based on tried and tested models.

Protest

Earlier in the day, people living near Terra Firma protested against the unscientific dumping of garbage there and demanded that the two lakh tonnes already dumped there be cleared at the earliest.

Deputy Mayor L. Srinivas tried to pacify the protesters, but failed in his attempts. Residents claimed that their surroundings had been polluted and that several people were falling ill. Recently, an eight-year-old boy, who was a resident of Gundlahalli, died of dengue, they said.