It’s not just Delhi, citizens of Bengaluru are also getting choked this winter, as there has been widespread burning of garbage over the last one month here.
The toxic waste-burning smoke coupled with the early morning winter fog has led to the formation of smog that hovers over localities till almost midday.
“The long winter months are coming and it is not the smell of winter that lingers if you live in Bengaluru or Delhi. It is toxic death that’s breathing down our necks,” wrote Shilpi Sahu, a resident of Sarjapur Road on Facebook. “Overnight, illegal garbage sorting sheds have come up near the Kaikondrahalli lake fence area, where garbage is being illegally dumped and set fire to regularly,” she said. Multiple meetings with elected representatives over the issue has not yielded any results.
However, this is not a one-off case. Seema Sharma, a resident of Bellandur, who is at the receiving end of toxic smoke said the burning of garbage at an open plot next door started over three weeks ago. Last week, the fire burned on for almost five days before being put out by civic authorities. “Even now there are several instances of garbage burning in the area. Especially during mornings and evenings, the entire area is filled with smoke, and it’s becoming difficult to live here,” she complained.
In the last two weeks alone, N.S. Ramakanth, member of the SWM Expert Committee, BBMP, said that more than 80 citizen’s WhatsApp groups that he has been part of were buzzing with photos and complaints of garbage burning across Bellandur, Varthur, Sarjapur Main Road, Jakkur lake, Kanakapura Road, among other places. “Mahadevapura zone has emerged as the notorious hotspot for burning garbage,” he added. “It being winter, the pourakarmikas are also burning fallen leaves. While even that is banned, in the garb of burning leaves, waste is mixed in it and burnt,” said Ramprasad, an activist working in the garbage sector in the city.
Who is burning garbage?
Who has been burning garbage over the last one month in the city? Though citizens have provided multiple photographic evidence of trucks dumping garbage, the civic body has failed to nab any one of them.
Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, SWM, said that the only gap in garbage collection and processing are the bulk generators, like commercial establishments and large apartments. “We have mandated that they give the waste only to a set of empanelled vendors. But many other contractors have emerged in the space, taking waste from bulk generators at low prices and disposing it of in open plots and setting fire to it. We are now planning a crackdown,” he said, adding that he had issued a circular recently to levy penalty on such contractors.
However, its effective implementation is a distant dream, said N.S. Ramakanth, member of the SWM Expert Committee, BBMP. He added that the streamlining of garbage contracts pending for over a year now, was the only sustainable way that the gaps could be fixed. However, the tenders are yet to be reworked.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that such a situation has emerged. In 2014 too, garbage burning turned a pan city problem, and empty plots along national highways leading out of the city were the hotspots.
Waste to ashes
Burning garbage at : Bellandur, Varthur, Sarjapur Main Road, Jakkur Lake, Kaikondrahalli Lake, Kanakapura Road
Mahadevapura zone has turned a hotspot
Health hazards: Nausea, asthma, lung infections, headaches
