JOIN USFoul smell from KCDC landfill continues to bother residents
The foul smell emanating from the waste-processing unit of Karnataka Compost Development Corporation at Kudlu off Bommanahalli continues to bother the residents of Somasundarapalya, HSR Layout, Kudlu among others despite the tall claims made by the BBMP in resolving the problem by spraying gallons of diluted lemon grass extracts everyday.
The occupants of the apartments in the vicinity of KCDC landfill, who are forced to endure the odour, alleged that they have not seen the Palike take up measures to control the foul smell emanating from the KCDC landfill.
“The only time I saw Palike take up odour control programme was a month back when Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the dumpyard,” said, Meera Rotti, a resident of HSR Layout.
About 35 garbage-laden lorries dump the waste at landfill everyday and the stink spreads as far as four to five km, the residents rued.
“The incessant rain in the past three to four days has further aggravated the situation. As the landfill is filled with mixed waste, the lemon grass extracts, if sprayed, will last only for an hour. The odour control facility does not even exists in the KCDC unit,” says, Lalitha B V an aggrieved resident.
The KCDC plant has the capacity to process only 70 tonnes of waste everyday. But about 350 tonnes of waste is dumped in the landfill on a daily basis. The assurances, given by the chief minister, of reducing the transportation of waste to landfill and implementing the water management plan have remained on paper, the residents complained.
“The civic agency has violated Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules by not maintaining a buffer zone around the landfill,” said Anis Padela, a resident of HSR Layout.
Special Commissioner for Solid Waste Management (SWM) Subodh Yadav told Deccan Herald, “Apart from the KCDC unit, the odour-control measures have been taken up at other landfills too.”
He admitted that unless segregated waste reaches the landfill, there will no immediate effect from spraying.
Meanwhile, the residents of Somasundarapalya, HSR layout, Singasandra and neighbouring localities have decided to approach Supreme Court against the unscientific waste processing at KCDC unit.
“We had filed a case at Karnataka High Court but in the last four months not a single hearing took place. So we have decided to move the apex court seeking relief,” an aggrieved resident told Deccan Herald on the condition of anonymity.