Bangalore:
Bangalore's garbage problem has finally reached Karnataka Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah's door. Mandur, a small village next to the one of the biggest landfills, about 30 kms away from Bangalore is protesting against the dumping of waste at their village for the last five years.
The villagers who have been threatening to block the unloading of garbage met the Chief Minister and have invited him to come to the village himself and understand what it means to live in the constant stench and filth. About 25 representatives from the village held a meeting for over 3 hours with the Chief Minister, Home Minister, Bangalore in-charge minister, Bangalore Mayor and top officials of BBMP, Bangalore's civic body.
Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah has requested for some more time. "Give us six months-time and we will identify a permanent solution for this problem. We will try to have processing plants in the landfills itself which can treat the waste, produce gas and energy from the waste. Until then I can promise to offer clean drinking water, energy and food to the villagers." said Mr
Siddaramaiah.
The villagers were unwilling to accept his offer. From the air they breathe to the crops that grow in their fields, everything is contaminated. "We do not want his sympathy. We have refused to accept his offers. We will protest if dumping doesn't stop soon." said Prema, a resident of Mandur.
Bangalore's civic body, BBMP has identified landfills near Chikkanellamangala, Seggehalli and Goduru. But that is a temporary solution. What is needed is a model which uses scientific methods of treating the nearly 5000 tonnes of waste each day at landfills. With the monsoon on its way, Bangalore is staring at another huge garbage crisis even as the idea to suck back about 30 per cent of waste into the system by recycling has not yet been implemented.
The other fundamental issue is that waste is not always segregated at the source.