Minister has no luck in convincing agitated villagers

In what may worsen the garbage problem, talks between the Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and citizens opposing the dumping of waste at Terra Firma and MSGP landfill sites located in Doddaballapur taluk failed on Wednesday.

The standoff between the State government, in particular the BBMP, and villagers living around the two garbage-processing units was mainly because they refused to allow garbage into their village.

George reached out to the people of Dodda Mankalala village, urging them to allow dumping of garbage till the end of December. While sympathising with the villagers, he tried to get some more time from them so that garbage generated in Bengaluru during Navaratri and Dasara festivals could be cleared.

“We will stop sending garbage to these units in a phased manner from December onwards. The government is aware that the two garbage-processing units have failed to work. We will find out a viable solution to your problem in consultation with the chief minister,” he told the villagers.

In return for allowing the dumping of garbage, George offered them several sops such as improving the village, spraying of mosquito repellents, supply of potable water and other civic amenities. But the protestors rejected the offer, calling it a “bait” to spoil their village.

The minister told them that a garbage-processing unit being set up at Rs 600 crore would become operational soon and help in drastically reducing the pollution.

Terra Firma Managing Director, R Ganesh, who was also present there, was livid. The unit can process just 400 tonnes of waste daily while the BBMP is sending about 1,600 tonnes after the Mandur landfill site was closed down, he said. “Expecting scientific disposal of 1,600 tonnes of waste every day in our unit is simply impossible,” he stressed.

One of the protestors, R Chandra Tejaswi, demanded that the minister order a probe into the manner garbage was being disposed in Bengaluru. He demanded whether the Supreme Court directions on solid waste management were ever followed.

Hanumanthanatha Swami of Elerampura Math, who is leading the protest, said the government hadn’t fulfilled even one promise it made after the protest began on October 20. “In this situation, how can we trust the government?” He also highlighted the plight of villagers whose crops have been damaged by the pollution caused by the garbage. “We don’t need any of your ‘Bhagya’ scheme. We just want to eat food in peace.”