Bommanahalli MLA shuts down troublesome KCDC processing plant

Sitting Bommanahalli MLA M Sathish Reddy has announced that the contentious waste processing plant run by the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) in Kudlu on Hosur Road will be closed.

In a video posted on social media on Thursday, Reddy announced the closure but failed to provide any official document confirming it.

Reddy said he has been working to keep processing volumes low in the KCDC plant since 2008. He claimed that after 2019, he was successful in reducing the volume from 450 tonnes to 100 tonnes.

In 2022, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) had closed the plant saying it did not comply with regulations, but it reopened in a week after what had been announced as corrective measures.

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Kamesh Rastogi, a resident of HSR Layout, said locals had been trying in vain to get an official response on those corrective measures. The protesting residents repeatedly highlighted the potential health hazards of having to live with the stench emanating from the plant.

Reddy stated that the plant had to increase its waste intake when the pandemic reached its peak. However, over the last three months, only 50 tonnes of waste generated from the constituency was being processed.

People commenting on Reddy’s video tweet asked him for the closure document and whether this is also a temporary shutdown to be reversed after May 10 when the elections are over. Reddy is seeking the fourth term as MLA from the Bommanahalli constituency.

"Since 2013, we have been fighting against the plant. If the closure is permanent, it is welcome, but since there is no official notification available, we will have to wait and watch," Rastogi said.

Insiders said the BBMP last offloaded five compactors of garbage on April 24. "We have stopped sending garbage-laden compactors for the last three days," a senior BBMP official said.

"The garbage is being diverted to the waste processing plant of MSGP on Doddaballapur Road as well as the Bellahalli landfill,” he added.