Residents protest, cry foul over waste dumping

Mysuru: Hundreds of residents of Old Kesare and surrounding areas of the city held a protest in front of Old Kesare dumpyard here on Monday against Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) for dumping waste at the facility.The protesters locked the main gate of Kesare waste treatment plant. They held a protest under the banner of Jana Spandana Samithi demanding the MCC to stop dumping of waste in their area as it is not only emitting foul smell, but causing a stench and also posing threat to their health and wealth.They shouted slogans of against MCC commissioner, officials demanding them to stop dumping of waste, and shift the dumping yard to the city outskirts.The dumping yard and waste treatment plant unit set up by MCC which is located in their areas is surrounded by Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) Layout, Poornaprajna Layout. There are many schools of international repute, engineering colleges and missionary centres in the vicinity.Thousands of people have built houses in the layouts that developed around Old Kesare. The area also has Kamanakerehundi Lake, and the Varuna Canal is just a few metres away from the meat waste plant in their areas.Abattoir is frequented by dogs, vultures, crowsThe modern abattoir, meat waste plant which was set up by MCC in their dumping yard is frequented by dogs, vultures, rodents and cranes. Crows come in large numbers to feed on the animal remains so incidents of birds dropping animal skin and parts on top of houses and buildings are reporting often from their areas.Earlier, the MCC was dumping the waste collected from all households on a daily basis at in Vidyaranyapuram-JP Nagar. To divert the waste and process a new plant was set up by MCC to process 200 tonnes of waste that was collected areas from the surrounding of Old Kesare. The waste disposal plant is located half-km from Old Kesare. Two schools are located about 100 to 200 metres away from this plant. Prominent hospitals like Manipal and Narayana Hrudayalaya are also in the surrounding localities. The new RTO office building is also located nearby. The newly built Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway is a kilometre away from this plant.MCC which was proposed to build a modern abattoir at RS Naidu Nagar also shifted to Old Kesare following the protest from residents of RS Naidu Nagar. They opposed the MCC for establishing some more waste processing projects in their area plant when the residents were already opposing dumping of waste. They threatened to intensify the stir in coming days if MCC failed to check the unbearable stench. They wanted MCC to initiate measures for the safety of their health and well being.