The big stink kicks people out

The last resort for the family of Manohar Kumar to improve his ailing mother’s condition was to move to a new place.

As a resident of Somasundarapalya in HSR Layout for eight years, Manohar’s mother was suffering from intestinal infections which it aggravated over the period.

“The doctor had said that the flies feeding on waste could be a probable reason behind the increased infection. The reason looked simple, but the effects on health was so huge that we decided to move to a new place,” recalls Manohar.

There have been hundreds of protests to shut down the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant for the unbearable stench it produces. But the cries are falling on deaf ears. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials have said that they cannot shut down the plant at any cost.

To check the odour, the KCDC had even introduced bio-filters in the plant. However, the residents are not happy with it.

Similar to how buffer zones are indicated around lakes to prevent encroachment, waste processing plants also have such zones.

However, a senior BBMP official admits that the approval to construct houses was given by the civic body itself, though some of them were in violation of the buffer zone. “The buffer zone regulations were in place even during the construction of the plant, which happened in the '70s. But this was not enforced,” he said.

The BBMP also initiated the strategy of receiving waste only from Bommanahalli zone and dry waste from the rest of the city. However, the situation continues to be the same and the residents are continuing their relentless fight to shut down the plant.