Bhubaneswar, June 6: The issue of Bhuasuni dump yard took a positive turn today with agitating villagers finally agreeing to the administration's decision to shift it 5km away from the present site.

The villagers had been protesting against the present location of the dump yard and wanted it to be moved further away from its present site. The final hearing to resolve the dispute will be held on July 31.

As part of the process to resolve the Bhuasuni imbroglio, the state pollution control board and the Khurda district administration had on behalf of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) organised a public hearing at Chandaka Dak Bungalow today.

At the hearing, about 90 per cent of those living in the vicinity of the dump yard backed the decision to shift it about 5km from its present location. The rest of the villagers, however, continued to insist on the garbage yard being removed even further away from the area. Residents of Bhalugaon, Chudang, Tulsadeipur, Mundasahi, Similipatna and Daruthenga, among others, have been opposing the location of the Bhuasuni yard.

The villagers alleged that Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had provided wrong information to the green tribunal about the yard. They contested the corporation's claim about the distance between the dump yard and the villages being 2km and asserted that it was actually 620m.

Chittaranjan Dash of Similipatna said the civic body was putting the lives of the villagers at risk by locating the yard so close to the village. "The dumping of garbage here creates unhygienic environment in the area since the civic body does not practice scientific disposal of solid waste. The wastewater is also seeping into the nearby Kanjia Lake and polluting the groundwater on the other side," said Dash.

Another villager Sitamani Murmu of Chudanga said the dump yard contributes to contamination of drinking water and this leads to various health problems. "Our people have been highly neglected because we are under the civic body's jurisdiction. So, who gives them the right to dump the garbage of an entire city in a place that is not even theirs?" asked Murmu. He added that the problem worsened during the rains.

Led by newly elected Bhubaneswar block chairman Abhinash Pattnaik, representatives of five nearby villages such as Andharua, Chandaka, Kantabada, Malipada and Mendhasala met chief minister Naveen Patnaik on June 3 seeking his intervention into the dumping yard issue.

Pattnaik, who was present at the public hearing today, reiterated the demand to shift the dump yard by at least 5km from its present site. Several of those who attended today's hearing echoed Pattanaik when he asked for their support to the decision. He assured officials of the pollution control board that the villagers would support the initiative if they shifted the yard to the demanded distance.

The issue of the Bhuasuni dump yard has continued to haunt the civic body and the city residents over the past eight years with continuous opposition from villagers living in the nearby areas. The situation took a turn for the worse last year when the villagers locked the dump yard for a month. Daruthengha, the worst affected village, had boycotted the last panchayat election over the issue.

The civic body dumps about 500 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day. The yard is spread over 63 acres and the civic body also plans to have a waste-to-energy plant in front of the dumping yard for safe treatment and disposal of waste. Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they would abide by what the green tribunal said in its final hearing.

At the public hearing today, additional district magistrate of Khurda Manoj Kumar Mohanty, along with the officials of state pollution control board, recorded views of about 37 villagers, which will be forwarded to the green tribunal and the ministry of environment, forest and climate change. This final hearing of the National Green Tribunal will be held in Calcutta on July 31.