Garbage spreads to newer areas

Tractors dump waste daily near Lalitha Mahal Palace, opposite JSS Ayurveda College

Mysore/Mysuru: At a time when there are talks to expand the jurisdiction of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to include several villages on the city outskirts and upgrade the Civic Body into a ‘Bruhat Mysuru Mahanagara Palike’ or ‘Greater Mysuru’, waste is being continuously dumped to newer areas.

Several residents of Prithvi Layout, near Lalitha Mahal Palace, opposite JSS Ayurveda College, have complained to Star of Mysore that since a month or so, their area has been a dumping place for garbage. This was not the scene before and the locality was considerably clean but gone worse now.

“This is a relatively new area when compared to other developed ones in the surroundings of Alanahalli. Since one month or so, we have seen loads of garbage being dumped here every other day,” said P. Sudhakara Reddy, who is building a new house in the locality.

The entire surroundings where even doctors from JSS Ayurveda College reside and are planning to build houses have also turned into a dump-yard. “These tractors are owned by MCC and private garbage contractors. They regularly dump waste here instead of transporting them to dedicated segregation areas and solid waste management plants. Unfortunately, MCC issues warning to people not to dump garbage on Ring Road,” Reddy added.

Other residents said that they had personally visited the MCC Office many times to complain about the garbage dump but the officers there shirked off their responsibilities. “They told us that the area does not belong to MCC but Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). What are we supposed to do? The area stinks and is a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” said Ramnarayan, a Govt. employee. There is a Varuna water channel that flows in Alanahalli and garbage is dumped even there. “Unfortunately, many office-goers throw plastic waste bags here on their way to their offices. They come in cars and two-wheelers and throw waste,” said residents.