THE WASTE LAND

THE WASTE LAND
Residents of Whitefield are struggling to cope with serious medical problems, a fallout of burning garbage
Aarthi R | TNN

Bangalore: Madhu is desperately worried. Her plump daughter Aakruti, who turns three in April, has lost 3 kg in less than two weeks. It started with sudden bouts of vomiting and stomach pain at night.
“Strangely, she felt perfectly normal in the doctor’s clinic, but fell ill on coming back home. This happened for a few days. We didn’t know what was wrong until we smelled it one day,’’ says Madhu.
“The smoke and foul smell wake you up late at night — even 3 am sometimes. You just can’t breathe,’’ says Bhargavi, another Whitefield resident who has also been suffering from acute asthma for the past few days. She suspects it’s part of a bigger, burning issue — less than half a kilometre from their apartment.
It started in early January this year. Acres of land in Chikkabanahalli, off the Whitefield Main Road, are now open to smoke and rotting garbage that includes plastic bags, bottles, vegetables and even medical waste. This land was once cultivated by villagers but has been sold to private parties. This dry, patchy and abandoned area is now a burning concern for those living nearby.
Walk by the land and in no time villagers surround you. “Can you smell it? We live with it,’’ says one. “It starts late at night, by 10 pm,’’ explains Muniraju, a farmer here whose 3-acre plot sold a year ago is part of the dumping ground.
They say at least 15-20 trucks loaded with garbage come every night from K R Puram. According to villagers, land owners get anywhere between Rs 300 to 700 for a truckload. “We have nothing against their making money. But, why in this way?’’ they ask.
Narayanaswamy, another farmer whose cows graze in the fields nearby, fears the worst. “Sometimes, the cows graze on the burned remains and fall ill. Even if one dies, it’s a big loss,’’ he says. Unable to bear it, the villagers protested recently.
“It stopped for some time. But then we realized they’d started dumping it at a few other nearby places,’’ says a resident, pointing to a burning pile of garbage near a well.
DISTANT EFFECT
This is a place with low groundwater levels. The two wells here are contaminated — only black, foulsmelling water comes up. A few villagers were using it to draw drinking water till late last year. Even the few coconut trees and shrubs that remain are now half-burned remains along with soil blackened by the flying ashes. And even as one stops to stare, the charred remains of a beehive fall from a tree.
Even people living 3-4 km from the burning land have similar medical problems; Sudha, who lives at Belathur, is one of them. Rekha, a resident of Sai Gardens, says, “It’s so horrible! You just can’t explain. I left my towel out one night and the next day, I couldn’t use it.’’
Many residents in this apartment complex suffered heavily during the recent foggy days. “The chemical smell trapped within the dense fog made it almost impossible for us to even stay indoors, despite covering all windows and doors with 3-4 bed sheets,’’ one of them says.
HEALTH HAZARD FOR BOTH HUMANS AND ANIMALS