Electronic City residents revolt against waste plant

Locals protest against the plant.

Residents of Ranka Colony, Bannerghatta Road, protest against the illegal dumping of garbage on Saturday.

After a two-year gap of staging massive protests against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) waste-processing units, residents are back on the streets again.

This time, the protests are happening against the Chikkanagamangala waste-processing plant and the dumping of garbage in Ranka Colony.

Multiple protests over the last two years by HSR Layout residents to shutdown the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant at Somasundarapalya is quite well known. Thanks to the unbearable stench emanating from the KCDC facility.

Now, the residents of Electronic City are out on the street protesting for the same reason.

More than 500 residents on Saturday staged a protest against the foul smell rising from the BBMP waste processing plant, situated at Chikkanagamangala in Electronic City Phase 2.

The residents of Bren Woods, other nearby apartments and villagers from the surrounding areas, gathered in large numbers, and took out a protest rally from Doddanagamangala temple in Electronic City to the BBMP waste processing plant situated at Chikkanagamangala.

The residents complain about the foul smell emanating from the plant and how it is affecting their health. “We are forced to keep our doors and windows shut due to the pungent odour throughout the day. This is leading to breathing problems,” said Pankaj Dubey, a resident of Bren Woods apartment, which is situated close to the plant. He also said that the BBMP civic workers are mixing the waste, which is against the solid waste management rules.

The residents visited the plant on Saturday and urged the concerned authorities to take immediate steps to resolve the issue. They have also submitted a memorandum to the BBMP, urging to stop the burning of garbage in the plant. The memorandum further urges to take measures to check the foul smell, install air quality monitoring equipment and to segregate the waste before it is processed.

Mamatha, the plant supervisor, has assured that a meeting will be set up with Randeep D, additional commissioner (admin), BBMP, next week.

The BBMP is planning to set up a waste-to-energy plant at the Chikkanagamangala unit. Sarfaraz Khan, joint commissioner, health and solid waste management, BBMP said, “Some miscreants are dumping animal waste in and around the plant, and we will take action against them.”

Residents protest
garbage dumping

In a similar incident, the members of the Ranka Colony off Bannerghatta Road took to the streets on Saturday to protest against trucks illegally dumping garbage in the locality.

The residents are complaining about the dumping of garbage in vacant plots for the past 8-10 months. They also complain about the storage of gas cylinders in such vacant plots, especially because it is a major risk as the garbage is set on fire often.

The residents highlighted the lack of street lights in the area, which led to a death last week.

“We are fed up spending our time and energy appealing to officials in every forum possible to resolve our concerns. Despite paying such high property taxes, why do we need to plead for basic services?” said Ms Gopi Venkataraman, a resident of Ranka Colony road.

Sarfaraz Khan, meanwhile, said he has directed officials to help the residents resolve the issue at the earliest.