Mandur launches do-or-die battle against City's trash

It’s a do-or-die battle against Bangalore’s municipal waste, which Mandur’s residents say has ruined their happiness and health. On Tuesday, the village turned a fortress with heavy police deployment.

The protest intensified after about 30 agitators were detained at the Anekal police station, 50 km away from the protest site.

The village residents are taking on the authorities concerned, for forgetting their promises and resorting to arm-twisting tactics. They are on an indefinite dharna at the lone landfill site for Bangalore that takes about 2,500 tonnes of municipal waste every day.

Sitting in front of the solid waste disposal facility of Organic Waste India Private Limited, the villagers raised slogans demanding justice, clean environment and right to livelihood.

The agitation took a political twist with the Aam Aadmi Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) backing the villagers.

While CPM members openly supported the agitators by joining in the dharna, AAP members were with those detained at the Anekal police station.

Veteran freedom fighter H S Doreswamy too is backing the protestors.

The landfill facility remained closed throughout Tuesday, due to which there was no dumping. Srinivasa Gayathri Resource Recovery Limited, which was supposed to set up a waste-to-energy plant 10 years ago, has fortified the landfill premises so that no protester enters inside.

“The gate was opened last night and at least 19 truckloads of garbage was dumped at the landfill site,” said Ramanna, an agitator.

Another agitator Yatheep Gowda sought to know whether demanding justice from the government was a sin."

“When Bangalore cannot live with its own garbage, how can we? Bangaloreans demand clean air, water and environment and so do we. By what standards is our agitation unlawful?

What justification government has for picking up 30 villagers in the dead of the night and detaining them?” he asked.

Chandrashekar, a Gram Panchayat member, said the BBMP did not implement the segregation of waste at source, which resulted in the problem. He said BBMP had vowed to send only 65 truckloads of garbage to Mandur, but it is sending more than 400 truckloads.