Hubballi: The Congress party workers staged a massive protest by blocking Karwar Road in both directions and condemning HDMC staff’s act of burning of garbage dumped at the Hesige Maddi or dumping yard on Monday.
Protesters led by Congress leader Nagaraj Gouri staged the protest, condemning the burning of legacy waste by the staff of HDMC. Nagaraj Gouri who was raising his voice against this for the last few years. His wife, Deepa Gouri, a former corporator, was highlighting this issue; she had raised it in many general body meetings of the HDMC, but it remained unsolved.
Nagaraj Gouri claimed that the dumping yard staff set fire to the legacy waste every day. The people residing in the areas surrounding the garbage dumping yard are literally inhaling very dangerous gases every day. He stated that the smoke was causing problems for residents in approximately ten wards.
He also alleged that most of the residents of these 10 wards frequently fell ill from inhaling poisonous gas. Children are susceptible to coughs and coughing, according to him.
The Congress leaders also allege that the HDMC staff releases stray dogs they catch during the drives in the yard; since the dumping yard does not have a fence, the street dogs venture into nearby residential areas via Gudihal Road. One can see an increase in the number of stray dogs in the areas located near dumping yard. There were instances of dog bites, too, he said.
Gouri charged that the HDMC had installed equipment to bio mine the legacy waste by spending Rs 30 crore, but this equipment was never used. The rusted equipment is now defunct, he said.
Finally, Santosh and Mallikarjun, HDMC officers attached to the solid waste management wing, met the agitators and assured them that the garbage burning issue would be solved and they would stop the garbage burning. They also assured him that the dumping yard would be fenced in 10 days and that the bio-mining process would begin within three months. Based on the assurance, they withdrew the protest with a warning of intensified agitation if the demands were not fulfilled within the deadline.
Abdul Khader Alavandi, Jaffar Shaik, Pasha Navalur, Sadiq Mittebhai, Raghunath Madalli, Ejaz Jagirdar, Shivu Gokavi, Sameer Pallana, and others were present.