Heaps of garbage turns Benakanahalli into a stinky mess

BELAGAVI: Several tony areas dot Benakanahalli village on the outskirts of Belagavi City and although it is a gram panchayat, it has been developed like a city. However, the landscape has been marred with garbage strewn on roadsides and piled in vacant areas.
Gram panchayat authorities are neither collecting garbage from households nor disposing of it since the past two years. This has resulted in roads in posh Laxmi Tek area behind S Nijalingappa, being converted into a garbage dumping spot. Ironically, the area is located just behind the Sugar Institute which purifies water for the city.

With little or no disposal options, residents have been throwing garbage here for the past couple of months. Piles of rubbish now cover half the road and motorist have no choice but to negotiate their way through the waste. It has also resulted in an increase in stray cattle, pigs and dogs. Moreover, the stench is unbearable, especially when it rains.

Raju Shettar, a resident, revealed someone had thrown a dead dog at the spot and the residents around had to suffer the stink for two days. They approached the authorities concerned — even ZP CEO R Ramachandran — but in vain. Fed up, residents have decided to launch an agitation against the local gram panchayat seeking a permanent solution.

Mohan Sambrekar, vice-president of Benakanahalli gram panchayat, said the panchayat does not have funds to clear the garbage. And even if they do clear it, there is no place to dispose of it. “Earlier, the panchayat used to dump garbage at Turmuri garbage depot where garbage of the city corporation is disposed, but now the depot is not accepting garbage generated in panchayat limits,” he said.

Sambrakar revealed that until 2015-16 city corporation pourkarmikas would collect the garbage and charge a monthly fee which was negligible. But all that changed when the depot stopped accepting rubbish.

However, BT Udaykumar, environmental engineer, claimed the city corporation never collected garbage from GP limits. “Although the area borders the city, it falls under GP limits and it is the duty of GP authorities to dispose of it using their funds,” he said.