Click to play videoDobbspet/Bangalore: Karnataka's industries have nowhere to dump their hazardous waste.
Leveling of land had just begun at the industrial waste disposal plant at the 93-acre landfill site at Dobbspet just 45 km from Bangalore, when locals forced work to stop and burnt down the construction materials.
“We protested because we are worried about this hazardous waste plant. It will harm underground water. Drinking water could make our children even handicapped,” says local leader, S P Ramaiah.
“They say it won't stink, but what guarantee is there? Even petrol has an odour. The locals are unrelenting and planning the future course of action,” adds a villager, Bhanu Prakash.
Work on the landfill began after the Supreme Court raised serious questions about Karnataka's waste disposal. The court had even set June 2006 as the deadline to make it operational.
If all had gone well, it would have been the state's first landfill for industrial waste.
And if operational, the landfill would have been catering to 22,800 tonnes of waste generated across Karnataka every year.
Around 1,565 industries in the state are forced to store toxic wastes due to the absence of disposal facility.
Politicians don’t want to risk being perceived as anti-farmers and want the site to be shifted. And pollution control board officials are not amused either.
“This is very critical for Karnataka because the Supreme Court has been pulling us up. And that’s why such a facility has not been provided. So in absence of that small industries may be discarding here and there and that's serious. If we have to shift the site, it will mean a delay of two years,” says Chairman, Karnataka Pollution Control Board, Dr H C Sharatchandra.
The waste disposal plant faces an uncertain future. While authorities dither, factories across the state have no option but to continue storing hazardous waste till a solution is reached.
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