burning issue

(Top) Garbage on fire at Samantarapur dumping site and (above) the transit dumping yard behind Sainik School. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 10: The traffic on the Puri-Bhubaneswar Road (NH-203) has increased significantly with rath yatra round the corner. But tourists visiting the holy city have to encounter the ugly site of garbage dumps being set afire at Samantarapur on the outskirts of the capital.

Samantarapur is not the only place where garbage dumps are being set on fire. It is much the same at the temporary dumping yards near Sainik School and the Lower PMG Square right in the heart of the capital.

Though Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials admitted that the fire at the dumping yard is causing a lot of inconvenience to people, they said they were unsure of the reasons behind these fires.

“It could be due to cigarette butts thrown by sanitary workers at the site or someone playing mischief. However, we will stop the fire near Samantarapur bridge and, if possible, stop dumping of garbage there because the festive season has already begun,” said K.C. Pati, deputy commissioner of the BMC.

Slum dwellers near Sainik School complained about smoke emerging from the temporary dumping yard on Thursday and organised a roadblock opposing the entry of the corporation trucks to the site. Following this incident, the deputy commissioner visited the site.

City-based urban management practitioner Piyush Ranjan Rout said: “The incidents of fire at temporary dumping sites by accident is understandable and clear, but what about similar incidents along the Mahatma Gandhi Marg near Lower PMG where the sanitation staff are setting fire to the collected garbage on a daily basis? The fire at dumping sites not only pollutes the surrounding area, but also increases temperature of the city.”

Recently, the BMC said it would collect Rs 1,000 from groups that demonstrate near Lower PMG Square on Mahatma Gandhi Marg. “How are the same authorities turning a blind eye to such incidents of garbage dumps being set on fire in the same area by the sanitation staff?’’ asked Bijay Kumar Mishra, an environmentalist.

Nityaprakash Swain, a local resident and businessman of Samantarapur, alleged that dumping garbage near the bridge is illegal and the local residents have been opposing it for nearly two years. However, the civic authorities are not taking any steps to end it. Last year, the BMC authorities had planned to take help of the commissionerate police to stop illegal dumping but nothing happened.

N.K. Mahalik, a former professor of geology at Utkal University, said: “By dumping garbage, some people are trying to claim land on the banks of the Gangua nullah, into which nine of the 10 natural drainage channels merge. The civic authorities should ban illegal dumping near the Gangua bridge.”