High Court permits garbage processing unit at Mavallipura

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday permitted the BBMP to set up a garbage-processing unit at Mavallipura. The landfill site there was closed down two-and-a-half years ago, owing to violations of environmental norms. 

The Mandur landfill site, where the City’s garbage is presently going to, will be closed down from December 1 onwards and will function as a garbage-processing unit. 

Passing the order, a division bench of Justice N Kumar and Justice B V Nagarathna said, “Dumping of waste will not be permitted anywhere in the City. If it is stopped in Mavallipura and Mandur, it will not be allowed anywhere. There will only be garbage-processing units.” 

The Indian Air Force too had opposed plans to revive the Mavallipura landfill site on the grounds that garbage attracts vultures and kites. Because of Mavallipura’s proximity to the Yelahanka Aerodrome and Air Force base, incidents of bird hit cannot be ruled out. The Mavallipura residents too had approached the High Court, opposing any revival plans. They had cited the contaminated groundwater, which they are forced to drink. 

Taking these into consideration, the court ordered that dumping will not be permitted at Mavallipura. The court asked the BBMP to appoint a nodal officer to check violations of its order and environmental norms laid down in the Municipal Solid Waste Act. 

The court noted that the chief minister had promised a stop to dumping of waste at Mandur, which should be strictly adhered to. However, there are no garbage-processing units in and around Mahadevapura. Hence, a garbage-processing unit will be operational at Mandur. As the landfill site has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, the BBMP commissioner was directed to provide mosquito nets to people in Mandur free of cost. 

The BBMP was directed to carry out bio-mining of mountains of waste in Mandur and Mavallipura. Approximately 40 lakh tonnes of waste is lying in each of the two villages, due to the dumping for the last many years. 

On ‘G’ category sites

The High Court on Friday granted the State government a week’s time to make its stand clear on the eligibility of 300 people who have been allotted BDA sites under ‘G’ category. 

A division bench headed by Justice K L Manjunath directed the government to spell out its final stand on the recommendation made by the Justice B Padmaraj Committee which went into the issue of ‘G’ category site. 

Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar appeared before the bench on Friday and stated that the committee has not looked into the matter as per the High Court direction. “What options have you (government) got if the committee has not followed court directions? How many more years do you need to take action on the recommendations of the committee,” the bench asked. 

The Advocate General sought some more time, citing difficulties in implementing the recommendations since they were not in accordance with the court directions. 

In 2012, the High Court held that the sites allotted under ‘G’ category, on the recommendations of former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and B S Yeddyurappa, were illegal. The High Court later directed the government to constitute a committee to examine whether some allottees could retain the sites and also recommend how many sites will have to be restored to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).