Residents of Santosh Nagar and Pachchanady on Tuesday held a protest against the dumping of solid waste at the compost plant opposite to the dumping yard in Pachchanady.
The residents opposed the procedure of dumping waste in the plant for 45 days and then convert it into compost. Storing of wet waste for such a long duration will cause a lot of hardship to residents staying around the plant. Residents wanted the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) to follow the old practice of dumping waste at the dumping yard.
“We had a long agitation to stop the dumping of waste at the plant. Now we have to agitate again,” said Gayatri, a long-time resident of Santosh Nagar, which is close to the compost yard. Her neighbour Shoba said the foul smells are a trouble. “We cannot come outside in the morning and evening. It is only in the last two days the smell has come down,” she said.
Wilma D’Costa, who has a farmhouse in Pachchanady, said the dumping of waste at the compost plant has resulted in waste water flowing down across her land. “We are already facing problems with the waste water from the dumping yard. Now this is another stream. Our land comes in between the two streams of water.” Ms. D’Costa said this has resulted in contamination of ground water, which was the only source of drinking water. Ms. D’Costa said coconut trees and beetle leaves in her farm have withered because of exposure to waste water flowing down from dumping yard.
Councillor Kavita Sanil also joined the protest. Environment Engineer at the MCC R. Manjunath Shetty said they were following aerobic process of treating solid waste. The waste was being stocked at the compost yard for 35 days. Bio-enzymes were being sprayed to prevent foul smell. After 35 days, the solid waste will be processed to prepare compost. “It prevents pollution created because of dumping waste. It is also a good way of treating waste,” Mr. Shetty said.
