Garbage dumped on the ground adjacent to Veer Kuer Singh Park on Hardinge Road in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Oct. 10: The heart of the state capital stinks, thanks to the daily dumping of over 750 tonnes of waste on a land near the historic Veer Kuer Singh Park on Hardinge Park Road.

Till a few months ago, small mounds of garbage used to be seen at the site. But ever since the services of A2Z Infrastructure Private Ltd were withdrawn, the plot has become a spot to dump waste generated in the city everyday.

Hardinge Park Road residents keep on complaining about the pungent stench emanating from the garbage heap and shooting letters to the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner and the district magistrate. But the mounds continue to become bigger and they stink stronger with the civic authorities not taking any measure to make the place clean, the residents alleged. “It is almost a year that we are living in such a miserable condition. Imagine stepping out of your house everyday and the first thing to welcome you are piles of garbage and their unbearable stench,” said Jitendra Narayan Chaudhary, a flat-owner in block B-3 of AG Vihar, a housing society located a few metres from the dumping site.

“Most of the people in our apartment are forced to keep their windows shut throughout the day. People from other areas avoid visiting our locality’. Stench apart, we are tired of flies and mosquitoes,” he added. A.K. Suman, a resident of Block B-6 of AG Vihar, said: “We have sent several letters to the municipal commissioner and the DM. But there has not been any change in the situation.” According to sources, the plot, spread across seven-eight acres, is a desolate government land that was earlier used as a private bus stand.

When contacted, PMC commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal said: “The ground near Veer Kuer Singh Park is not a garbage dumping yard. It is a garbage transfer station for the New Capital division. The waste dumped in the area are carted away by bigger garbage compactors and discharged at the Ramchak-Bairiya landfill site.”

Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh said: “Veer Kuer Singh Park is to be developed and beautified in near future. I was earlier informed that the dumping has been stopped in the area. But if dumping of garbage continues in the area, I will get in touch with the PMC authorities and ask them to take necessary steps.”