JOIN USIt is 10 pm. We are 5 kilometers away from Mandur. It is time for BBMP trucks to start arriving. These garbage trucks are heading to one of the two landfills in Mandur. They will unload their smelly cargo there.
Every night BBMP trucks make a long queue on this road. They enter the landfill with the discipline of the army trucks. It is a dangerous operation. Without precision and complete coordination there will be mishaps.
They climb the garbage hill patiently. One by one, they reverse up to the day’s designated dumping point, usually on the edge of a deep pit. As they unload the garbage, an awaiting excavator moves in quickly to push the garbage into the pit.
The trucks struggle a bit, make quick to and fro jerks to empty the garbage. The excavator hangs its crane right behind the truck, to stop it from slipping into the 100-feet pit.
Since 2005, BBMP has been dumping nearly half of Bangalore’s garbage in Mandur. The people of this village have been protesting against it for the last few years. In June this year, their protests suddenly escalated. We visited Mandur to find out why the villagers were so upset.
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As we drove into the village, a pungent smell of rotting fruits and vegetables greeted us. Mandur smells like this day and night, round the year.
The Part 2 of Deccan Herald’s documentary shows how Bangalore’s garbage has ruined lives at Mandur.
The Part 1 of Deccan Herald’s documentary shows the massive operation BBMP has undertaken to dump Bangalore’s garbage at Mandur.