Odour control spray used only during the last three or four days, claim residents
Mandur residents have claimed that the landfill was “cleaned” just ahead of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s visit on Saturday. They said the odour control spray was used only during the last three or four days.
“Once the Chief Minister leaves, the stench will be back and hundreds of trucks laden with Bangalore’s garbage will line up outside the landfill,” said a resident, who did not want to be named.
Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials, however, denied this and said that a solution called Ecosorp was being sprayed to control the stench and another was being sprayed to control mosquitoes and flies. The civic body would also take up spraying of a chemical used by the Mysore City Corporation on a pilot basis. A tender would be floated soon, said M. Lakshminarayan, BBMP Commissioner. However, even the Chief Minister was seen covering his nose briefly during his 20-minute visit to the landfill.
Later, Mr. Siddaramaiah addressed residents of Mandur and surrounding villages. He reassured them that garbage would not be sent to Mandur after December 1. “The problem had compounded as there wasn’t enough attention paid to processing of garbage. But now we have identified land at eight places in the city where processing units will be set up. The total capacity of these units will be around 2,800 tonnes,” he said and promised the gathering that the 24 lakh tonnes of accumulated waste would also be processed within three years.
The residents submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, which included a demand for a dedicated water pipeline to the village. Freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy, Bangalore in-charge Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy and Aravind Limbavali, MLA, spoke.
(The Hindu)
