BBMP nursery makes way for Citys refuse

BBMP nursery makes way for Citys refuse
By Satish Shile, DH News Service, Bangalore:
BBMP has decided to convert a decades-old nursery it maintains at Kudlu village on Hosur Road into a dump yard.

From what looks like a last-ditch effort to find a place to dispose of the garbage the City churns out at an increasing pace, BBMP has decided to convert a decades-old nursery it maintains at Kudlu village on Hosur Road into a dump yard.
BBMP commissioner K Jairaj said 14 acres of the BBMP land in the village would be handed over to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC), adjoining the nursery, to dispose of the waste.
Though the BBMP has been saying it is in possession of a piece of land at Kudlu for waste-disposal, there was not hint at converting its lush-green nursery into a dump yard.
Assistant Horticulture Officer Nagappa Atturkar says if the Palike decides to earmark this particular piece of land for junking the City’s refuse, the department has no option but to give up the nursery as the BBMP has no other vacant land to offer.
“Anyway, trees are dying in the nursery due to heavy accumulation of solid waste in the area. You can’t have both the nursery and a garbage yard at one place,” he said. The 30-year-old nursery is home to hundreds of coconut and mango trees and even plants like chikku.

More than its ‘fill’
It was N Lakshman Rau, during his tenure as the Palike administrator (Jan 9, 1975 to Nov 30, 1978) who took up the initial work on the nursery, which was initially planned to be constructed over 63 acres.
But the greenery has withered away gradually as the KCDC acquired more area to dump solid waste. KCDC Managing Director Basavaiah says the corporation cannot accept more than 300 tonnes of waste each day.
“The Pollution Control Board has barred us from accepting more than that. Even if the Palike provides us additional land for dumping waste, we can’t process it,” he says, and adds: “We need additional infrastructure facilities. It takes months to strengthen the unit to deal with more waste. I don’t know what the Palike has decided”.
People in the adjoining areas are fed up with the increasing dumping of garbage here.
“It’s difficult to spend even a day here. My children often suffer from fever and other water-borne diseases. We are not rich enough to go anywhere else. The Mahanagara Palike should shift the garbage yard to some other place,” says Umesh, a resident.

Dogs’ hangout
“Street dogs in the area no longer eat what we locals offer. They go to the dump yard and eat waste coming from mutton stalls. The dog menace has worsened here as a result. Recently, five kids were bitten,” he says.
Bharathi, another resident, alleges that despite many protests “the authorities are not taking steps to free us from the stink. We continue to live here as we have no other place to go. The rich have now shifted to better localities, but how can we?” she asks.