RDF is being dumped in Somasundarapalya lake area, claim residents

Tonnes of rejects and RDF being dumped near Somasundarapalya lake.   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

BBMP refutes residents’ claim; says lake is being rejuvenated

With the temperature rising, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is worried that the highly combustible refuse- derived fuel (RDF) backlog at the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) plant may catch fire.

Much to the chagrin of residents, however, it is disposing the backlog by dumping the RDF in the buffer zone of Somasundarapalya lake. This, claim those who live in the vicinity, is threatening the ongoing rejuvenation of the lake.

Residents, who have been agitating against the plant and the stench emanating from it, allege that none of the standard operating procedures are being followed. With no response forthcoming from officials of either the KCDC or the BBMP, they have submitted a complaint to the Bandepalya police. Though the complaint has not been registered, they hope that this will at least push the authorities to act soon.

Lalithamba B.V., treasurer of the Kudlu, Haralukunte, Hosapalya, Somsundarapalya and Parangipalya Residents’ Welfare Association, told The Hindu that the RDF and other waste were being dumped in the buffer zone in violation of the NGT order. “The plant stands on 4.1 acres of encroached land, which actually is part of the 16.29-acre lake,” she claimed.

The RDF at the KCDC plant had caught fire last year in February, and again this year. “Nobody seems to be taking responsibility over the RDF. The BBMP can’t just be dumping it in the lake area. We don’t understand why the authorities are still silent,” she said.

Another resident, Kamesh Rastogi said the Joint Action Team — comprising citizens and officials of the BBMP and the KCDC, that was formed in September 2017 — had also “become silent” since January 2018.

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad, while refuting claims of residents, said the civic body had in fact allocated funds for the rejuvenation of the Somasundarapalya lake. “We are trying to reclaim the lake. We have also restricted the waste going to the plant to just what is collected from Bommanahalli zone,” he said, and added that the BBMP was also trying to clear the backlog of waste dumped in the plant.