A day after the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to stop dumping garbage at the Mavallipura landfill, the civic agency on Friday faced a problem with an illegal garbage recycling yard in Devarabeesanahalli.
Sources said that the KSPCB has written to the Palike asking it to take action against illegal recycling being done on an empty plot in Devarabeesanahalli.
Varun Kannan, who resides next to the said plot said: “The problem has been there for sometime now and we managed to get in touch with a few government officials. But nothing worked out and then we wrote to the Pollution Control Board.”
Quoting a KSPCB official Gurumurthy, a Regional Environment Officer, another resident said that the Bangalore East Division has many more such places, and that treating garbage unscientifically on authorised settlements can cause a lot of problems.
The Board, having received another complaint of an illegal recycling yard at the Kasavanahalli lake bed, had written to the Palike earlier and had it eventually cleared.
Sources said generally migrant labourers take up recycling for additional income. “...Most of these guys have no valid licences from the approving authorities and there are a lot of pollution-related issues,” Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Environment Officer was quoted as having said.
Stating that he has paid about Rs 30 lakh for his property, Kannan said: “But it is not even safe for children. This is becoming a huge problem. We hope the authorities concerned will take appropriate action.”
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Mamata, BBMP Environment Engineer said: “I have inspected the place today (Friday) and we are looking into the matter. The KSPCB referred the complaint to us only yesterday (Thursday) and the investigation is on.”
Some of the residents said that the owners of the empty plot do not even know about recycling and that the persons operating the recycling yard have encroached upon it.
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