Health hazards loom as sites turn trash spots

There appears to be no respite from the garbage problem for residents of Bengaluru. The problem is so severe in some places that it threatens to turn into a serious public heath hazard.

A vacant site turned dumping yard inside the deserted Harilakshmi theatre in Wilson Garden is fast becoming a dangerous place. From leftovers to plastic to discarded household items, everything is dumped here. The overbearing stench and the rat menace have made people’s lives miserable and even caused deaths, according to residents.

Mukunda S C, who once lived right next to the dumping yard, said his father died of a lung infection six months ago. “The doctor treating my father said he must have got the lung infection from garbage. My mother also started to suffer from asthma and I decided to move out,” he said. The theatre closed down 20 years ago and the place became a dumping yard last year, he added.

Naveen, who lives close to the theatre, said that mosquito-borne diseases were common in the locality and most of the people suffered from breathing problems. Residents blamed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for the condition as municipal workers collect garbage at the front portion of the theatre.

Similarly, an empty plot belonging to the BBMP on Wheeler Road, near Cox Town, has become a mini landfill site. The site located next to Indian Gymkhana Club is swarmed with flies and mosquitoes.

People waiting at a bus stop at the Wheeler Road traffic signal, close to the dumping yard, cannot stand there for a minute. That the dumping yard is adjacent to a dirty storm water drain only makes things worse. “We have to keep the windows closed. Recently, my son got dengue. He’s recovered now but we are still afraid,” said Anil S, a resident.

Sarvagna Nagar corporator, Shashirekha Mukund, said municipal workers were dumping the waste at the site because the BBMP hadn’t designated a garbage segregation point in the locality.

Residents of 14th Main, MEI Layout, Bagalagunte, also complained about decomposed garbage being dumped in the locality. Francis Xavier, a resident of Maruthi Sevanagar, said municipal workers burnt plastic and other waste in the locality. “We have to cover our nose to avoid inhaling cancer-causing dioxins that are released during garbage burning,” he said.

Mayor B N Manjunatha Reddy said the BBMP would consider building compound walls around its vacant sites so that they didn’t become dumping yards. “We are creating awareness among our revenue officials about construction of compound walls,” he said. “But residents should also desist from dumping garbage at these sites.”