Mandur residents protest at Palike office in KR Puram

Mandur may be peaceful due to prohibitory orders, but the villagers are not.

As the administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC on Mandur, facilitating dumping of municipal waste at the landfill site in the village, angry villagers changed the venue of their demonstration.

Nearly 200 Mandur residents staged a demonstration at the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office in KR Puram on Friday, from morning till evening.

They shouted slogans against the Palike for being apathetic to their plight.

Rajanna, a protester, alleged that the BBMP had already taken away their right to clean water, clean air and clean environment. Now, it is taking away their right to protest, he said.

“About 30 people were arrested a week ago when we protested against the dumping of trash in our village. Now, they want to arrest many of us. This is how our voices are stifled,” said Rajanna.

Village panchayat member Chandrashekhar said, “The protest was organised at KR Puram due to prohibitory orders in Mandur. We will organise more such protests here.”

He said the BBMP had given a written assurance that from June 1 no trash would be dumped in Mandur, but it is going on unabated.

When the villagers reminded the BBMP of its promise, they were baton-charged and arrested.

“We want to ask the government whether an assurance given by the BBMP commissioner holds any value. Is it our fault that the BBMP did nothing in the last one year to find a solution to the garbage problem? When the BBMP cannot live with its own muck, why should we live in their filth. Our village is ruined,” lamented Chandrashekhar.

Mandur villagers have convened a meeting on Saturday morning to decide their further strategy.

‘Remove old contractors’

BJP corporator from Yediyur, N R Ramesh, has decided to take on the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike administration if the contract given to the old garbage contractors is not withdrawn.

Ramesh on Friday said he called on BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana earlier in the day and sought to know the action taken to remove the old garbage contractors.

He said 43 old garbage contractors were accused by the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force of embezzling about Rs 220 crore from the Palike exchequer.

He added that the High Court had directed the Palike not to give them contract and if it defied its order, it would initiate a suo motu contempt-of-court proceeding against the BBMP.

The Palike abided by the court order in such a fashion that the same old contractors were benefited.

“The compliance with the High Court order was a mere eyewash. Today, the relatives of the old contractors run the show. They are using the same vehicles, trolleys and employees of the old contractors. In a way, the old contractors are still ruling the roost,” alleged Ramesh.

He said he had told the BBMP commissioner to remove the “old contractors in a new avatar” within a week. If he fails to do so, he said he would file a contempt-of-court case against the Palike administration.