Hyderabad: Locals protest for the removal of dump yard

Hyderabad: Residents living close to the Jawaharnagar dump yard has been facing hardship for the past decades. They also allege that during the current pandemic, it has become difficult for them to even open their videos that lead to intake of emanating smell from the dump yard.

With no action taken by the Pollution Control Boards (PCB) and the state government, locals are forced to take the issue upon themselves and have been protesting in several ways to make the government come on the ground to solve the issue.

On Monday, locals came together to protest in a unique way following the social distancing. More than 100 of the locals participated in the protest by wearing masks and sending snaps with several captions for the removal of the dump yard. The USP of this protest was that children of around 5-year-old to elderly of 70 years old also participated in the protest.

Apart from the mask protest, locals on Tuesday were g

iven postcards so that they can give their opinions written which will be further sent to the government to take action on this issue as soon as possible.

Speaking to The Hans India, Shanti Reddy, a social worker who resides in Dammaiguda said, "Since it is the lockdown, we are making sure that we don't go against any of the norms and do these kinds of protests. However, once the lockdown is lifted, at least more than 3000 locals will go on a hunger strike."

Everlasting issue

More than hundreds of trucks collect the garbage from several parts of the cities and dump in the Jawaharnagar dump yard. Jawaharnagar dump yard being the only dumping ground, the garbage gets dumped here.

There are around 160 colonies that is around 10 km radius away from the dump yard where more than 60,000 locals resides.

For the last few months, residents in areas like Balaji Nagar, Dammaiguda, Kapra, Yapral and Sainikpuri have been shutting their doors and windows each evening, as a thick stench fills the air. The smell is difficult to describe, but a small whiff is bound to make anyone nauseous.

The smell emanates from the Jawaharnagar dump yard, the city's main dumping ground where an estimated 7,000 metric tonnes of waste generated by the city is transported daily by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). However, the dump yard can process only 5,500 metric tonnes of waste a day.

N Venkata Subba Rao, a resident of Dammaiguda said, "It smells like death, because that is what it is. This is where Hyderabad's entire garbage comes to rot and die. And we are the ones suffering for over a decade now. Last month, authorities said that the dump yard had reached its saturation point."

However, officials are yet to act as alternate sites that have been identified remain on paper, though many say these will only spread an existing issue to other parts of the city.

Even if we close our windows, at around 2 or 3 am, a strong whiff can wake us up from even the deepest slumber. It is impossible to go back to sleep. We spend many sleepless nights. The condition during the lock down has become even pathetic. We regret now of spending lacks of money to buy houses here," adds Venkata.

Main problems faced by the locals

· Malodorous smell in their area the whole day

· Mosquito menace

· Biodegradable waste dumped on roads

· Poor quality of air and water

· Contaminated groundwater

· Reverse Osmosis purifiers due to the polluted water

· No fresh air to breathe