Where is the place to dump garbage?

Lakshamma, who is in her mid-60s, runs a small general store just a few steps away from the Kannur landfill in North Bengaluru, which receives around 3,500 tonnes of the city’s solid waste every day. Standing outside the store, it is hard not to notice the overwhelming number of houseflies hovering inside the shop and outside.

. “That’s all because of the waste,” she says, pointing toward the dump yard that was once an abandoned stone quarry. “We’ve been dealing with the bad smell for a long time. The problem with flies and mosquitoes is recent. It started after the BBMP began expanding the garbage dump around three months ago,” she adds.

. A mother of two daughters and a son, Lakshamma had considered shutting down the store after her customers began to dwindle. However, she abandoned that idea when her son—who drove a school bus for a living—passed away a couple of months ago.

. Located about 20 kilometres from the city centre, the Kannur landfill receives roughly 400 truckloads of garbage daily. The landfill is under the Mahadevapura constituency and within the jurisdiction of Kannur Gram Panchayat. For now, it is the only site that handles Bengaluru’s waste, accepting about 60% of the city’s total garbage. The rest is directed to processing plants in Chikkanagamangala, Doddaballapura, Kannahalli and five other locations. These units receive only about 1,500 tonnes of waste, while their capacity is much more.

. According to the Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016, only non-usable, non-recyclable, and non-biodegradable waste and rejects from waste processing facilities should be sent to landfills. This mandate remains largely unimplemented as the BBMP has not upgraded its waste processing and composting infrastructure over the past decade due to resistance from residents living near these processing plants, often situated in densely populated residential areas.

. Filling fast!

. When Bengaluru faced a severe garbage crisis in 2013-14, especially after villagers in Mandur (near Hoskote), Mavallipura (near Anekal), and Bingipura (beyond Yelahanka) resisted the dumping of waste on agricultural land and even set a garbage truck in fire, the Karnataka government proposed using abandoned quarries for waste disposal.

. Over the past nine years, the BBMP has filled approximately 60 quarries in this region with garbage. Some of these were as deep as 40 feet. In addition to the abandoned quarries, the area is home to cement factories, stone crusher units and asphalt batch mix plants, all clustered together. Human settlements are sparse, and some houses have been abandoned, likely due to severe air pollution.

. Before the Kannur landfill, the BBMP used to send waste to quarries in villages like Mitaganahalli, Bellahalli, Bagaluru and Byappanahalli, which are situated near each other but fall under different assembly constituencies, such as Byatarayanapura and Mahadevapura. According to a 2021 NITI Aayog report, this dumpsite cluster contains around seven million tonnes of legacy waste, with recent figures likely being much higher.

. Today the Mittaganahalli side of the dump which was open, emitting methane and susceptible to fires in June 2022 is mud-capped, with pipes kept to discharge methane to open air. Fire hazards have now come down.

. A marshal stationed at the Kannur landfill noted that the existing quarry can handle waste for another six months, but there is a high likelihood of it filling up quickly, as the daily waste being sent has risen to 4,000 tonnes. Nearby, there are two large quarries and several smaller ones, but they are filled with dark-coloured leachate seeped from the existing landfills.

. BBMP has reportedly prepared an action plan to treat approximately 3,000 million litres of contaminated water, known as leachate, and discharge it onto farmlands. This will perhaps create additional space for waste disposal.

. Skeletons in the cupboard?

. While many garbage-filled quarries have been capped with mud, the foul smell emanating from the active landfill is unbearable, especially the closer you get.

. Managers of Sri Krishna Gaushala in Kannur shared that many of them sleep at another ashram in Doddagubbi because the odour becomes unbearable at night. “We have not faced any health issues except the smell. We have 643 cows. So far, they, too, have remained healthy, except for a recent incident where ten cows died. The postmortem revealed they died from inhaling the toxic air produced by a fire in the landfill,” said a Swamiji.

. He added that they had reported this to the local MLA. He also expressed concern that not many villagers are raising their voices against the dump.

. A private school manager on Bellahalli Main Road, who requested anonymity, mentioned that although student enrollment hasn’t decreased due to the landfill, the smell is still a major concern. “The odour becomes worse during the monsoon season,” he said. He claimed that there have been no health issues among students or staff, so he hasn’t had the water tested.

. Real estate prices remain high

. A resident of a mid-range apartment shared her regret about buying a 2BHK flat for Rs 80 lakh. “When I bought the flat, I was unaware of the nearby dump yard. The property was comparatively cheaper, and the access roads were wide. After moving in, I learned about the landfill. The smell is unbearable, especially for those in the front block,” she said. “I regret buying the property here.”

. The presence of the landfill seems to have had little impact on the real estate market along Kannur Road, which leads to Bengaluru’s largest landfill. Builders quote around Rs 7,000 to Rs 9,000 per square foot for under-construction and ready-to-move properties. A developer with an under-construction project nearby, set to complete next year, mentioned that they had already sold all the flats.

. “On the main road, the monthly rent is upwards of Rs 35,000, so I am looking for flats along Kannur Road,” said Sandeep B, a chip designer. He was quoted a rent of Rs 29,000, including maintenance, for a 2BHK flat he was checking.

. Sandeep, however, wasn’t aware of the landfill’s proximity. This could be due to the BBMP capping the quarries with a thick layer of soil after dumping garbage. While this is meant to expedite decomposition and reduce odour, concerns about groundwater contamination persist. Despite this, large vacant plots in the area suggest the landfill may be stalling new projects.

. Search for new locations

. For the past year, the BBMP has been searching for new locations to process and compost the city’s 6,000 tonnes of daily garbage. Initially, officials identified four potential sites: Gundlahalli in Doddaballapura, Gollahalli on Bannerghatta Road, Harohalli on Kanakapura Road, and Malur, located towards Kolar.

. The BBMP acquired about 80 acres of land in Gollahalli, previously owned by the Public Works Department. It is also trying to secure around 100 acres in Doddaballapura from a private firm that operated a waste-tech park for several years until it went bankrupt.

. The authorities find acquiring land in the other two locations challenging. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has reportedly refused to release land in Malur and Harohalli, as these were designated for industrial use. It’s learnt that the civic body has also abandoned plans for a site in Bidadi due to anticipated opposition from local villagers, especially the dominant Vokkaliga community.

. Pinky Chandran, a Solid Waste Management Round Table(SWMRT) member, says that the authorities disrupted the processes that had been established after years of struggle. “We were on the right track, especially after the High Court issued progressive directions, including the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. The 2020 bylaw also promoted waste segregation at the source, decentralisation of processing facilities, and biomethanisation, among other measures,” she said. However, the BBMP has failed to maintain its rapport with citizens, and there is no effective enforcement of source segregation, she added.

Where is the place to dump garbage?

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