JOIN USNo closure of KCDC plant but waste intake to come down
Residents of southeastern Bengaluru on Monday called off the protest for the closure of the waste-processing unit in Somasundarapalya after Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials promised to address their grievances.
As BBMP Commissioner (Solid Waste Management) Sarfaraz Khan arrived at the protest venue, people gathered around him and explained to him how the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant had made their lives miserable. They said the plant gave off foul smell and demanded its immediate closure. Khan initially suggested there was nothing wrong with the plant but later came around to residents’ point of view.
He made it clear that the plant could not be closed down right away as the BBMP didn’t have any other option, but promised that only garbage from the Bommanahalli zone would be processed there. He also promised a detailed road map towards the gradual closure of the plant.
BBMP Joint Commissioner (Bommanahalli zone) Veerabhadra Swamy said the garbage arriving at the plant would be “gradually diverted” to quarry pits being identified by the civic body.
But residents were not happy with the “hollow assurances and emotional blackmail”. Kavitha Reddy, a resident, said, “They are not doing us any favour. It’s the BBMP’s job to quickly clear the large amounts of unprocessed garbage.”
Shankar S, another resident, was skeptical about the BBMP’s assurances. “It gave us similar assurances in the past but did not keep its word. I hope it will stick to its promise this time,” he said.
Kudlu Gate, Haralur, Haralukunte, Somasundarapalya and Parangipalya (KHHSP), a federation of residents’ welfare association, which is behind the protest, said it would not go back on the demand for closing down the plant. Anis Padela, a KHHSP member, said they would meet Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad shortly to resolve the issue. “Based on their response, we’ll decide the next course of action,” he added.
DH News Service
BBMP’s assurances
-Resurvey and fencing of Somasundarapalya lake in a month.
-Measures to control foul smell at KCDC plant.
-Only garbage from Bommanahalli zone will be processed at the plant.
-Mounds of Residual-derived Fuel (RDF) at the KCDC plant and the Somasundarapalya lakebed will be cleared in three months.
Key figures
-Existing stock: 20,000 tonnes of dry/wet waste
-Processing capacity: 350 tonnes per day
-Present intake of waste: 130 tonnes per day
-Waste processed daily: 130 tonnes