Official shifted for refusing nod to garbage processing unit

A Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Additional Commissioner has been shunted out for opposing the land acquisition at Kodiyala Karenahalli in Ramanagar district to establish a garbage processing unit.

Additional commissioner Hemaji Nayak has been transferred from Welfare Department to the Administration Department. Nayak was also in charge of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) and land acquisition.

The BBMP sources said the government has been insisting on acquiring 40 acres and nine guntas of land through TDR outside BBMP limits in Ramanagar district.

The piece of land selected for acquisition falls under the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Area Planning Authority. He had reportedly told his superiors that he could not give his approval to the proposal, citing illegalities. His main contention was that the Palike could not acquire land outside BBMP limits through TDR.

Following this, he was removed on Friday. V Ashok has been brought in as the Additional Commissioner (Welfare). Sources said barely two months ago, he was transferred from the Bommanahalli Zone to the BBMP headquarters.

Nayak refused his approval on the ground that about six months ago, when the revenue officers selected the said piece of land at Kodiyala Karenahalli for the garbage processing unit, the then BBMP Commissioner formed a committee comprising chief engineer B V Satish, superintending engineer Srikante Gowda and deputy commissioner (TDR and land acquisition) Leelavathi to study the feasibility. The three officers visited the place and found it unfit for garbage processing.

In the report, sources said, the team maintained that the road leading to the place was barely 15 feet wide, where no lorry can enter. They noted that the place was sandwiched between three villages, including Kodiyala and Karenahalli, and was hardly 500 metres away from human settlement, which was against Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Rules.

They also found a pond right in the middle of the land, which meant that leachate from the garbage heap may flow into it and gradually seep into the groundwater. The team also mentioned in the report the objection by local residents to land acquisition.