Residents of Bhubaneswar can heave a sigh of relief soon as Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) talks with a village panchayat over disposal of waste at a designated dump yard is expected to end the stalemate.
Villagers of Daruthenga panchayat, a few kilometres from the city, stopped trucks from dumping waste at nearby Bhuasuni as a 22-year-old man died after he was knocked down by a truck near the site earlier this month.
This led to the temporary transit station in the Odisha capital brimming with garbage, leading to more time being taken by dump trucks to unload the waste and collect more from the bins. Barring the posh areas of the city, many streets in residential areas were stinking with litter scattered around the bins, which are full to capacity. The problem was compounded by intermittent rain.
The Daruthenga protesters are demanding a complete halt in dumping and clearing of waste at Bhuasuni, which has badly affected them in many ways. They have been protesting since 2008 when the BMC started dumping waste at the site.
After several rounds of failed meetings over the past fortnight, Daruthenga panchayat head Tapan Chakraborty said the administration assured them during the fresh talks that it would fulfil all the demands.
Biomining or scientific management of old solid waste will start once the BMC achieves the capacity of processing all the waste through composting centres, he told reporters.
Congress legislator Suresh Routray, under whose constituency Daruthenga falls, said the BMC would draft the proposals and send it to the villagers, who would take a final call.
A decision has been taken to gradually stop dumping at the site, Routray added.
Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das said the BMC started dumping waste at around 62 acres of land at Bhuasuni on the basis of the high court directives.
Around 300 tonnes of waste are being processed per day through 32 micro-composting centres (MCC) and 14 materials recovery facilities. Six more MCCs are nearing completion and more large centres will be built to process another 200 tonnes of garbage per day, she added.
Odisha Urban Development Minister Usha Devi said the administration would try to fulfil the demands of villagers as soon as possible.
”Though the BMC sought nine months’ time to address their problems, we will try to fulfil their demands before time,” she said.
