Bhubaneswar, July 18: The Bhuasuni dump yard is haunting officials of the municipal corporation as the one-month deadline set by villagers of Daruthenga for shifting it has ended on July 12.

The inhabitants of Daruthenga, a village near the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's (BMC) Bhuasuni dump yard on the outskirts of the city, had on June 12 threatened to lock up the yard after a month, if the civic body failed to meet their demand of shifting it elsewhere.

The villagers today beat up the driver of a dump truck that was about to enter the yard. The driver has been identified as Kishore Chandra Sethy. They also damaged the truck. Till the filing of this report, the civic body was yet to file a police complaint.

The villagers have been alleging that the municipal corporation is violating all norms of environment protection at the dump yard. In June, they had also sought the intervention of the Prime Minister in the matter. For a few days this month, the villagers had stopped trucks from entering the dump yard.

Sources said a meeting of senior officials presided over by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi is scheduled tomorrow to settle the matter. The issue of setting up a waste-to-energy plant at the site would also be discussed.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena told The Telegraph that tomorrow's meeting would discuss all aspects of the matter. "We have told the villagers that we will come up with a solution to their problems. We are hopeful of setting up the waste-to-energy plant and arriving at a long term solution to the villager's problems," said Jena.

The deadlock over the dump yard had resulted in the civic body failing to lift garbage from various parts of the city, as it could not find an alternative site.

Daruthenga villagers have pointed out that the landfill site at Bhuasuni is located about one kilometre from Nandankanan Zoo and 500 metres from the Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary. They have contended that, therefore, Bhuasuni falls in an eco-sensitive zone and dumping garbage in this area is illegal under the Environmental (Protection) Act of 1986.

The civic body is also in a bind, as a delegation of the Union ministry of urban development will visit the city between July 31 and August 6.

A civic body official said the delegation would look into the status of a few selected smart city projects including the Bhuasuni waste-to-energy plant. "We are trying our best to restart the work on the waste-to-energy plant at Bhuasuni. We hope that tomorrow's meeting will bring some good news," said the official.

Rasulgarh resident Jayanti Maharana said:"Lifting of garbage in our locality is irregular. The civic body also does not seem to be concerned with segregation and processing of the waste. If they care for their reputation, they should plug these loopholes."