After inspection, Action

• MDA, MCC launch drive to clear garbage dump along Lalithadripura Road
• 100 tonnes to be cleared now; Remaining 350 tonnes soon

Mysuru: The Mysuru Development Authority (MDA) and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) have launched a joint operation to clear tonnes of accumulated garbage along Lalithadripura Road (Lalithadrinagar) at foot of Chamundi Hill, addressing a long-standing problem that has caused severe inconvenience to residents and has been causing severe environmental damage.

Star of Mysore had published a series of reports on the dumping of hundreds of tonnes of waste at the spot, with the garbage being set on fire regularly. The site, which falls in a green belt and eco-sensitive zone, had been reduced to a dumping ground. The MCC and MDA have now begun clearing the waste.

Mysuru District in-Charge Minister Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah also visited the illegal dumping site recently and pulled up officials of Rammanahalli Town Panchayat and Alanahalli Gram Panchayat for allowing the area to turn into a dumping ground.

MCC Commissioner M.K. Savitha, MDA In-charge Commissioner B.R. Mahesh and officials of the local Panchayats assured the public that the area would be cleared within a fixed time frame, beautified and secured with CCTV cameras and security personnel.

As the land falls under MDA jurisdiction, the Authority has to pay the MCC Rs. 1,080 per tonne for removal and disposal of the waste as per civic norms. MDA has made an advance payment to the MCC for clearing 100 tonnes of waste, amounting to about Rs. 1.08 lakh, following which the cleanup drive began this morning.

Officials estimate that 450 tonnes of waste have accumulated at the site over several years. Frequent fires set to the dumped garbage have resulted in the waste melting into a foul-smelling mass.

The material has now been classified as Construction and Demolition waste and debris. As the mixed and burnt material cannot be sent to cement factories for processing, it is being segregated and transported for landfilling and levelling purposes.

Two excavators and several tippers have been deployed for clearance work. Each loaded truck is weighed at a weighbridge before the debris is transported to Sewage Farm at Vidyaranyapuram.

Savitha said the clearance drive was undertaken on directions from the District Minister. She appealed the public to cooperate and refrain from dumping waste at the site in future.

Local leader Ahinda Javarappa said clearing the waste alone is not sufficient. As the area falls under eco-sensitive zone, he urged Alanahalli Gram Panchayat to deploy security personnel and install CCTV cameras to prevent illegal dumping from recurring.