Mavallipura residents demanded the closure of landfill
Environment Support Group and residents of Mavallipura demanded closure of landfill at Mavallipura citing serious pollution and its impact on the health of its residents. Recently Akshay Kumar, a 15 year old boy, died of dengue on Friday morning at Mavallipura, Yelahanka Hobli. Akshay’s untimely death is the tragic outcome of reckless dumping of hundreds of tonnes of garbage daily by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and M/s Ramky Infrastructure Ltd at Mavallipura.
Residents of the village as well as a swanky apartment complex in Mavallipura blamed the dumping of waste for the boy’s death.”The landfill is not only illegal but even the garbage disposal is unscientifically done. More than 10 lakh tonnes of garbage have been dumped in this site. We want the BBMP to shut down this landfill,” said Leo F Saldanha of Environment Support Group (ESG). He added that the government should not only shut down the landfill but also decontaminate the area and provide compensation to people who are suffering here.
This terribly mis-managed and illegal landfill has been a major source of worry, consternation and protest amongst local communities for some years now. Regulatory agencies, like Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, have done little or nothing to contain the damage to human health and environment, despite many petitions, protests, complaints, etc.
Livid villagers of Mavallipura are now carrying the body of Akshay to the Ramky facility in protest. The tragedy struck family has refused to cremate the remains of this unfortunate young victim of criminal negligence by BBMP and regulatory authorities.
In October 2009, KSPCB conducted a water analysis of a lake in Mavallipura village. The samples show exceedingly high levels of biochemical oxygen demand. The site inspection report of KSPCB reveals that worms from the garbage have contaminated surface and groundwater significantly, particularly Mavallipura tank.
B Srinivas, a resident of Mavallipura, said: “Recently, a resident of Mavallipura, died of dengue and another became a victim of cancer. This is mainly due to toxic substances from the landfill.There have been cases of meningitis and heart ailment in children. We want the landfill to be shut down and compensation given to victims.”
The landfills are also only 5 kms. from Yelahanka Air Force Base and attract a very high population of kites and crows, and vultures too – considered serious threat to flight safety of defense aircraft. Defence authorities consistently raised their concern against continuing with these landfills, stating that they were a clear and present danger to air security. Citing serious pollution and its impact on the health of residents living close to Mavallipura landfill, Environment Support Group and residents have demanded the area be closed.
Courtesy: Times of India
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[...] garbage dump near Mavallipura village on the outskirts of Bengaluru is posing a major health and environmental hazard for residents of [...]