Bhubaneswar, March 14: The deadlock over Bhuasuni dumping yard partially ended with residents of Daruthenga finally unlocking the gates and setting a three-week deadline for the municipal corporation to end their misery.

The breakthrough was reached following a three-hour discussion between representatives of the Bhuasuni residents and senior government officials.

The villagers had locked it on February 8 accusing the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation of dumping garbage irregularly in the yard. According to local residents, the stink emitting from the facility has made their life unbearable. Moreover, the garbage has been contaminating underground water sources. They have, therefore, given the corporation three weeks time to solve the issue.

The discussion was held with the villagers to ensure reopening of the dumping yard, which had become necessary as the existing garbage ground near Sainik School was already saturated.

"We have decided to form a committee that will visit the dumping site. The panel will also look into the difficulties faced by the villagers and find out if shifting the dumping yard to Tulasipur, as demanded by the residents, would be feasible. They will come up with a report in the next one week following which we will talk to the villagers," said municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar.

"The officials have assured us that the dumping yard will be shifted to Tulasipur, which is a more appropriate place. They have said that they will come up with a brief report in the next one week and work on the idea," said Daruthenga sarpanch Prashant.

The deadlock at the dumping yard had caused much inconvenience to the civic body as well as the residents. The dumping yard at Sainik School was already overflowing with garbage, as a result of which the corporation couldn't lift garbage from various parts of the city.

"The civic body has decided to help the villagers in every possible way. We will ensure proper dumping of garbage and also make sure that the wastewater or the fetid smell of the dumping yard doesn't bother the villagers. The dumping will begin temporarily from tomorrow," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

In the present scenario, the civic body has got three weeks to find an alternative solution as the villagers have threatened to close the gates once again if their demands are not met. The next meeting with the villagers will be held on March 21.

The corporation had in 2008 earmarked Bhuasuni mouza for dumping of solid waste and also decided to construct a waste treatment as well as a waste-to-energy plant, but none of the projects have seen the light of the day. The villagers were also assured of employment in the proposed projects.

Moreover, the dumping issue aggravated to such a height that top government officials were forced to hold the meeting today on an urgent basis.

The officials who attended the meeting include Khurda district collector Niranjan Sahu, police commissioner Y.B. Khurania, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani, MLAs Priyadarshi Mishra and Bijay Mohanty, mayor and other top officials of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).