CA site turns dump yard

Public property located close to BBMP engineering office

Raising dust on the narrow battered roads of Thurahalli, every day heavy vehicles make several trips to dump construction materials at the site reserved for playground.

Forget playground, the site now resembles a hillock due to illegal dumping.

Surprisingly, the site is located close to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineering section office and the Subramanyapura police station.

Residents of Turahalli complain that trucks and tractors make hundreds of trips to the village to dump construction debris.

Jayaram Reddy, a resident, alleged that the illegal dumping had been continuing unabated for the last one year despite his repeated appeals to the Palike officials.

Palike officials blamed

“I suspect the involvement of local BBMP officers,” Reddy said. He said debris was being brought on the pretext of filling a private land adjacent to the site.

“The private land measures about one and half acres, whereas the land filling has extended beyond its boundaries. Even the pillars demarcating the site from the private property have disappeared. The CA site faces encroachment,” he said.

Venkatesh, Assistant Executive Engineer, BBMP said he was not sure whether it was in a CA site or a private property. He added that the CA sites have not been handed over the BBMP as of now.

“Let me check it with the Revenue and Estate section whether the debris is being dumped in a CA site or in a private property. I learnt the dumping is in a private property,” he said.

The mafia

The debris mafia has grown so strong in the City that the senior IFS officer and the chief executive officer of the Lake Development Authority U V Singh was attacked while trying to prevent some truckers from dumping industrial effluent into the Nagawara Lake.

Police said Ramaswamypalya corporator N Chandra was involved in the incident. The Joint Commissioner of Bommanahalli zone Shivabasavaiah too was threatened when he tried to stop illegal dumping into a lake near Electronics City.

Deputy Mayor S Harish was threatened by armed jawans when he tried to stop illegal dumping in a BBMP land.

Actor-turned-politician Jaggesh too had a bitter experience when he spotted some people dumping debris in Malleswaram.

Illegal dumping of construction material is so rampant across the City that the BBMP finally decided to reward people with Rs 25,000 for providing information with photographs, registration numbers of the vehicles involved.