Pacchanady Residents Urge Dist Admin & Govt for Zero Tolerance to Waste Menace in their Vicinity
Mangaluru: During a press meet held by the activists and residents cum members of Pacchanady Hagu Ghanatyajya Baadhita Itara Pradeshagala Samrakshana Samiti, activist M G Hegde said, “Enough is enough-since we have faced enough hardships due to the nearby landfill at Pacchanady, the district administration, MCC and Government should immediately go ahead with the Zero Tolerance to Waste Menace in our vicinity. The Centre’s regulations-2016 for management of waste should be strictly implemented at the earliest. And also that the construction waste, e-waste and plastic waste must be managed separately”.
“The processing of all garbage should be done on a real-time basis, so that there is no crisis in future, like the residents faced during last monsoon season. If you look at the present situation at Pacchanady dump yard, it has piles of garbage that are over 35 ft high, which has lead to the contamination of drinking water sources, and residents in that area are forced to live with the nauseating stink daily. We are suffering due to the unscientific dumping of waste, and even the air we breathe is polluted. Houses, properties and agriculture have been destroyed due the unscientific dumping of garbage” added Hegde.
He further said, “Meanwhile, many wells in our area have been contaminated due to the seepage of effluents from the piles of garbage. Let the Mangaluru City Corporation and also the District Administration chalk out plans to clear the garbage from the landfill completely through advanced scientific waste management techniques. Thereafter, Pacchanady should be made a zero-waste landfill by processing garbage on a daily basis. This can be done through Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM) 2016, notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change”.
“We demand that the district administration and MCC should set up a committee involving local residents to monitor the waste management at Pacchanady. The MCC should also take necessary action to stop other urban local bodies in and around Mangaluru from dumping their waste at Pachhanady. We also urge the district administration and government to provide compensation adequately to those who lost their homes and properties in the last rainfall, when garbage came sliding down from the dump yard destroying homes and properties” added M G Hegde.
Pachhanady resident Lawrence D’souza also speaking said, “Incidents of toxic garbage catching fire at the landfill area is happening at regular times. We suspect whether the fire is accidentally or intentionally set by miscreants. The stench of unprocessed waste and toxic fumes produced during the incident had been causing health hazards among residents in the area. The nearby villages like Kudupu, Tiruvail, Shakthinagar, Padushedde, Kiram and Neermarga are also affected. The landfill leachate is percolating into Maravoor dam from where drinking water is supplied to villages. The leachate flowing in open drains also joins Pilikula lake, threatening the lives of creatures in the biodiversity park”.
Residents Roshan Kamath, Veronica and Rakesh Lobo were also present during the press meet.
