Residents near landfill sites begin protest as mayor's deadline ends

There seems to be no end to the garbage disposal woes in the City. People living in villages close to Terra Firma and MSGP waste processing units in Doddaballapur taluk began an indefinite strike from Sunday as the deadline given by Mayor Manjunatha Reddy to address their problems ended on October 29.

As a result of the protest, BBMP lorries carrying the City’s garbage were not allowed to enter the two units and they remained stationed outside.

The villagers said that the Mayor had assured them that he would bring Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and City incharge Minister Ramalinga Reddy to visit the units to try and find a permanent solution to the problems faced by the residents. They said that the Mayor had failed to keep his promise.

Doddaballapur tahsildar M K Ramesh spoke to the protestors Sunday afternoon to convince them to end the protest. However, the villagers were relentless and said that they would continue with their strike even at night. “This time, we will not budge and fall prey to the false promises made by officials. We will intensify our protest from Monday with the support of various organisations,” said local leaders Ashwath and Rajanna.

“For the implementation of mosquito control and prevention activities in and around the villages, the BBMP officials have prepared an action plan with an annual estimate of Rs 73.23 lakh. In the first phase, ₨ 38.11 lakh was released on July 21 and given to the five gram panchayats. It was directed that the mosquito spraying activity be undertaken by the panchayats under the supervision of the taluk medical officer. But till date, the taluk panchayat officials have neither undertaken any activity nor held a meeting,” said lawyer T K Hanumantaraju, who has obtained these details through RTI.