Mangaluru: Recently many people died due to dengue in the district. According to the procedures in Pacchanady dumping yard, the garbage dumped on the sanitary land fill site should be covered scientifically with a layer of clay, but the procedure has not been followed. Private vehicles also dump waste at Pacchanady without proper capping. The stagnant water near the dumping yard has become a breeding place for mosquitoes that spread malaria and other diseases. The locals in the area are afraid of contacting contagious diseases. A number of children use this road daily to go to school.
Antony Waste Management, the city’s garbage collectors, are doing their duty of collecting the waste from house to house, hotels, catering services and other places and dumping them in the dump yard at Pacchanady. But the concerned authorities are not inspecting the way they dump the waste.
On August 11, Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim visited the dumping yard in Pacchanady and listened to the grievances of the locals. The locals had gathered in large numbers to protest against the irregularities of the officers in maintaining the operations of the dumping yard in the area.
Environment engineer Madhu said, “We are dumping waste from meat shops with proper capping.” The company collects the waste and dumps it at Pacchanady at about 8 pm. Gurupura Panchayat vehicle has been given permission to unload the waste here. He also said that security has been appointed from IL & FS company to inspect the work carried out. “We will build a watchman room and compound wall. There is an excavator to help in spreading the waste evenly. Due to technical problems, since last week the procedure has not been followed. In the landfill side, we do the leveling and cap it. We level the waste in an L shape and do the closure. In rainy season, due to sliding, problems are faced during excavation.” Madhu also said that every report has been uploaded online. “People can get the detailed report on the website.”
Speaking to mangalorean.com, one of the residents in the area, B S Chandru said that there is no security for the dumping yard. For the development of the area, a committee has been formed. There are 16,000 residents in the area with more than 6,000 houses. He said that chicken waste has been dumped in an unscientific way. “Private vehicles bring chicken waste and dump it without proper capping. Sometimes people bring stray dogs and leave them in the area. There is a school, a cancer hospital and more than 16,000 people living in the area. People are afraid to walk on the road after 6 pm because of stray dogs. We have informed the concerned authorities but there has been no positive response from them. From the past 20 years, the waste has been dumped here, but now the waste is dumped without capping.”
Social activist Prashanth Pai said that after 8 pm, there are a number of private vehicles that come to the area to dump chicken waste. He said, “In this locality, there is a school, where the disabled come for studies, there is a 15-bed cancer hospital and more than 6,000 houses. People are facing severe health problems. We have complained to the concerned authorities but neither has there been a positive response nor any action has been taken to solve the problem. It is the need of the hour to take initiative to dispose the waste in a scientific manner.” He also said that if the concerned authorities will not take any action, their protests will be intensified. The concerned authorities should take all the measures to solve the problem permanently, he added.
The DC ordered to build a temporary security room within a week. He also said that a committee should be formed consisting of a member from any institution, the public and the corporation. The representatives should visit the spot and submit a report. “If the locals are not happy, we can take action. The concerned authorities should take care of the dumping yard so that it will not affect the health of the locals,” he said. The DC also said that the performance of the environment engineers is not upto the mark. “There should be regular inspection. Proper security should be deployed.” He also instructed the Mayor to call for a meeting to discuss the issue and find a solution. A detailed report about the safety measures, stray dogs, security, performance of IL&FS should be submitted to the office because it is the question of the living conditions of the people in the locality, he said.
DC Ibrahim instructed the health officer Manjaiah Shetty to visit the dumping yard every week and prepare a report of the same.
Mayor Jacintha Alfred advised Environment engineer Madhu to immediately appoint security at Pacchanady. She also assured to call for a meeting with the locals on August 12 at MCC premises.