Bengaluru: Bingipura landfill’s toxicity spills over to nearby water bodies
Bengaluru: Close on the heels of Lakshmipura fire breakout, it looks like more disasters are waiting to happen in Anekal taluk. It is said that bubble formation was seen in water bodies near S. Bingipura landfill due to the presence of methane at the landfill. The BBMP Administrator and Commissioner visited the landfill on Wednesday.
They instructed the local BBMP officials to lay pipes to air out methane gas. Commissioner G. Kumar Naik told Deccan Chronicle that wherever landfills are located, methane will be present. “The methane gas may have led to bubbles in some ponds or wherever water is accumulated. The decomposition leads to the formation of biogas. Hence, as a precautionary measure we have decided to install pipes to air out the gas,” said Naik. Gas will be removed in a physical way by letting out the methane pass along the pipes, he added.
Naik said that he and the Administrator, T.M Vijay Bhaskar, had met the villagers of S.Bingipura on Tuesday and they had urged the BBMP to reduce the quantum of garbage sent to the landfill. Naik too agreed that there was an immediate need to reduce the number of trucks carrying garbage to this landfill.
“Garbage generated in Bengaluru South and Bommanahalli constituencies are being sent to S.Bingipura landfill. Since the Mandur landfill has been shut, the burden on this landfill has increased. However, we need four months to reduce the garbage load and eventually, we will only be sending minimum garbage to this landfill,” he maintained.
It may be recalled that tension prevailed at the landfill recently when the villagers refused to allow BBMP trucks dump garbage. They protested that the capacity of the landfill was only 60 trucks, but the Palike was sending 120 trucks.
Bengaluru South MLA M. Krishnappa said that he had written a letter to the BBMP urging the authorities to take action before it was too late. Acting on a written complaint by the MLA and the villagers’ requests, Naik directed the BBMP officials to immediately swing into action. “Works on laying pipes will begin within the next few days,” he said.
Villagers threaten protest
Meanwhile, as Naik and Bhaskar visited the S.Bingipura landfill, hundreds of villagers gathered around them and threatened to stop BBMP trucks carrying garbage. They said that many senior citizens had taken ill due to the rampant dumping of garbage.
“We are living in fear. We don’t when there will be fire or an explosion due to the rotten garbage. We are not ready to allow the BBMP trucks dump garbage. If they send more trucks we will stage protests,” they threatened.
