Wire-burning menace chokes Hale Kesare, Rajivnagar; residents breathe poison

Mysore/Mysuru: A suffocating blanket of toxic smoke has engulfed Hale Kesare and Rajivnagar 3rd Stage (near Varuna Canal), where mounds of garbage are being dumped and electrical wires openly burned daily in broad daylight.

The stretch of the Varuna Canal, running along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and cutting through these neighbourhoods, has been turned into a sprawling, unregulated dumping ground for truckloads of waste.

In the inner lanes of Rajivnagar 3rd Stage (RTO-55 zone), heaps of plastic, electrical components and wires are torched daily. Waste is dumped along both banks of the Varuna Canal, much of it sliding straight into the water. The wires are set ablaze to strip out copper filaments, and the ash is tossed into the canal, poisoning its flow.

No clean air

The mix of garbage and thick, acrid smoke has created a hazardous atmosphere, transforming the area into a hub for illegal and unsafe activities. Residents wake up every morning to the sight of smouldering piles and the stench of burning plastic, stripped of their basic right to clean air. Just off Outer Ring Road, along the Hale Kesare stretch, the right bank of the canal offers a disturbing sight — a 200-metre stretch, nearly 50 feet wide, carpeted with plastic and electrical waste. Scrap collectors arrive with truckloads of wires, torch them for copper, then leave behind toxic ash and half-burnt debris.

Burning for metal extraction

The burning of electrical wires for copper has become routine. The charred residue is dumped directly into the canal, contaminating the water and nearby farmlands. Farmers fear the toxic runoff is seeping into soil and crops, endangering both health and livelihoods. Despite the rise in residential buildings, vast vacant plots near the canal have devolved into dumping grounds, wire-burning sites and hideouts for other suspicious activity. Overgrown vegetation and lack of oversight have left area feeling abandoned, with residents unsure which authority, if any, is accountable.

No civic monitoring

Locals lament that Hale Kesare and Rajivnagar 3rd Stage fall outside Mysuru’s core administrative focus. Elected representatives and officials rarely visit, leaving grievances unheard. “We live surrounded by garbage and breathe poisonous air. This is our misfortune,” said members of Hale Kesare Janaspandana Committee.