BENGALURU: Several pockets of Whitefield nestling next to green fields aren’t exactly soaking in an idyllic setting. Many patches of these fields have turned into illegal dumpyards and the waste set on fire spewing toxic fumes has become an everyday nightmare for residents.
Several residential complexes in the area have been complaining of their helplessness in having to live alongside illegal dumpyards that go up in smoke with metronomic regularity.Respiratory issues are on the rise in the area due to garbage burning in the open, which, however, has been outlawed by the state govt and National Green Tribunal for seven years.
Chaya (name changed), a Whitefield resident who lives next to one such fiery dumpyard, said ‘health inspectors’ of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) tell the residents that the land owners burn leaves and stubble for agricultural purposes and that they cannot stop their activity.
“But which farmer burns their stubble throughout the year?” she said.
Residents in the area said the smoke cannot be of only leaves and stems because it smells like poison.
On Feb 8, the plush villa colony of Prestige Ozone, behind Nexus Mall in Whitefield, went through a horrifying experience as clouds of smoke billowed out of the green fields on its eastern side. The smoke was caused by the burning of garbage which residents say has been an issue since 2017 but has worsened over the last 4-5 months. “Every two days, there are piles of waste burnt on the fields bordering the eastern compound of our society, about 2-3km from us. Over the last few months, our copper tumblers have turned turn black. My air purifier’s index for PM 2.5 (an identified pollutant) is at 210. I had respiratory issues 10 years ago but they have now resurfaced due to this problem,” said Ibraiz Siddiqui, president of the Prestige Ozone Welfare Association.
Siddiqui said they had written to the PMO after which Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) officials inspected the area. Marshals were deployed for a month but the burning reportedly continued at night. “When we wrote to the PMO again, they replied that the matter was closed,” Siddiqui added.
Chaya said not having a local elected body has made it practically impossible to tackle the matter.
“As citizens, we are all entitled to a few services that are entrusted to the govt to handle. But we are suffering here because no one in the entire system is ready to take responsibility,” she said.
Nitesh Dowgar, a resident of Prestige Ozone, said the community’s volunteers have seen trucks dump sludge from sewage treatment plants at the empty sites on the eastern side.
“The space is like a green belt… We even had officials from the KSPCB come and test the soil during the Ganesha festival last year. They found out that the soil was contaminated beyond use and there was an order instructing the residents to not draw any underground water from this area. Yet multiple illegal bores operate in these fields and are being dug consistently. When we went there along with the KSPCB to question the land owners, the people on the fields said that they were hired by contractors and had no links to the property owners. It is all very shady,” Dowgar said.
Farmers issued warning
Mahadevapura Task Force (MTF) members said a team of BBMP’s solid waste management department visited the site and found that the smoke was due to farmers burning their crops.
The AEE warned farmers to not repeat it, but the area comes under panchayat limits, they added.
Eesidents are not sure about the claim of the land being under panchayat limits and argued that the absence of a BBMP council is aggravating their troubles. “Whenever an official has shown up to check on our problem, she/he has never provided maps to prove the ‘panchayat land’ claim despite being asked to,” a resident said.
Several residential complexes in the area have been complaining of their helplessness in having to live alongside illegal dumpyards that go up in smoke with metronomic regularity.Respiratory issues are on the rise in the area due to garbage burning in the open, which, however, has been outlawed by the state govt and National Green Tribunal for seven years.
Chaya (name changed), a Whitefield resident who lives next to one such fiery dumpyard, said ‘health inspectors’ of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) tell the residents that the land owners burn leaves and stubble for agricultural purposes and that they cannot stop their activity.
“But which farmer burns their stubble throughout the year?” she said.
Residents in the area said the smoke cannot be of only leaves and stems because it smells like poison.
On Feb 8, the plush villa colony of Prestige Ozone, behind Nexus Mall in Whitefield, went through a horrifying experience as clouds of smoke billowed out of the green fields on its eastern side. The smoke was caused by the burning of garbage which residents say has been an issue since 2017 but has worsened over the last 4-5 months. “Every two days, there are piles of waste burnt on the fields bordering the eastern compound of our society, about 2-3km from us. Over the last few months, our copper tumblers have turned turn black. My air purifier’s index for PM 2.5 (an identified pollutant) is at 210. I had respiratory issues 10 years ago but they have now resurfaced due to this problem,” said Ibraiz Siddiqui, president of the Prestige Ozone Welfare Association.
Siddiqui said they had written to the PMO after which Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) officials inspected the area. Marshals were deployed for a month but the burning reportedly continued at night. “When we wrote to the PMO again, they replied that the matter was closed,” Siddiqui added.
Chaya said not having a local elected body has made it practically impossible to tackle the matter.
“As citizens, we are all entitled to a few services that are entrusted to the govt to handle. But we are suffering here because no one in the entire system is ready to take responsibility,” she said.
Nitesh Dowgar, a resident of Prestige Ozone, said the community’s volunteers have seen trucks dump sludge from sewage treatment plants at the empty sites on the eastern side.
“The space is like a green belt… We even had officials from the KSPCB come and test the soil during the Ganesha festival last year. They found out that the soil was contaminated beyond use and there was an order instructing the residents to not draw any underground water from this area. Yet multiple illegal bores operate in these fields and are being dug consistently. When we went there along with the KSPCB to question the land owners, the people on the fields said that they were hired by contractors and had no links to the property owners. It is all very shady,” Dowgar said.
Farmers issued warning
Mahadevapura Task Force (MTF) members said a team of BBMP’s solid waste management department visited the site and found that the smoke was due to farmers burning their crops.
The AEE warned farmers to not repeat it, but the area comes under panchayat limits, they added.
Eesidents are not sure about the claim of the land being under panchayat limits and argued that the absence of a BBMP council is aggravating their troubles. “Whenever an official has shown up to check on our problem, she/he has never provided maps to prove the ‘panchayat land’ claim despite being asked to,” a resident said.