Biocon booked for dumping waste

The BBMP on Monday lodged a police complaint against Biocon for dumping chemical waste at the Terra Firma waste-processing unit near Doddaballapur in Bengaluru Rural district. But Biocon maintains the waste is non-hazardous.

Villagers living around the Terra Firma unit had protested against the dumping of waste but relented after district in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy assured action against Biocon. BBMP administrator T M Vijay Bhaskar said the samples of the chemical waste have been sent to a lab for testing. Biocon has rejected the charges. “Biocon is sending inert cell mass to Terra Firma for treatment and disposal as per the Pollution Control Board norms.

This bio-waste is nutrient rich, highly biodegradable, non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-chemical waste. However, being an outcome of a fermentation process, it has a typical odour. The company is working with consultants to find an alternative technology for processing the cell mass, until then we have to rely on Terra Firma,” it said in a statement.