Project to clear waste from Mandur landfill awaits approval

Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is awaiting an approval from State Finance department for a project to clear the waste dumped at Mandur landfill.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Joint Commissioner (Health), K C Yathish Kumar said: “Once our proposal to clear the accumulated waste at landfill gets a nod, we will float the tender and start the work. As the cost of the project is more than Rs 5 crore, we have to float a global tender. There is about 20 lakh metric tonnes of waste at landfill area, presently.”

The joint commissioner added that as per the earlier agreement between the Palike and the residents of Mandur, the waste would be cleared within five years time.

“We will stick to our deadline. We have already done seven layers of soil capping in the past. We will be setting up bio-remediation plants based on their processing capacity. Most probably two plants would be set up,” he said.

The sources in BBMP maintained that the Palike had conducted a survey last year but do not have the waste components or the different categories of waste dumped at landfill site. They added that the total cost of the project is Rs 90 crore and funded by the state government.

Meanwhile, the villagers maintained that they have never seen any BBMP officials conducting a survey at landfill area, last year.

“Though the entry of garbage trucks has stopped, the stench still remains. We will wait for 10 days and then hold a meeting with the authorities concerned to deliberate on the steps to be taken to get rid of the waste dumped at the landfill. Also, we want the Palike to give us in writing about the details of the plants and contractors among others,” said Gopal Rao, a resident.

Deccan Herald’s efforts to reach BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana and Special Commissioner for Solid Waste Management (SWM), Darpan Jain,  for their comments on the issue didn’t yield desired results.