HEAP OF GARBAGE: Udupi City Municipal Council's garbage dumping yard at Beedinagudde in Udupi. — Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

UDUPI: The move to shift the garbage dumping yard from Beedinagudde in Udupi city to Alevoor village has raised a controversy. Udupi does not have a proper garbage disposal system.

At present the garbage is being dumped at the Beedinagudde Garbage Dumping Yard. Though the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) has built a compound for the Beedinagudde yard, the garbage is overflowing and is seen outside the compound. The stench there is unbearable.

Stray cows and dogs roam in the filth at the yard, making it a breeding ground for diseases. There are about 80 houses near the site. Water from the yard flows into the neighbourhood especially during the monsoon. The percolation of filthy water has polluted the wells in the surrounding areas.

Quantity of waste

It is estimated that 10 to 15 tonnes of waste is dumped at the Beedinagudde yard daily. Numerous attempts were made to shift the garbage dumping yard without any success.

However, the district administration decided to shift the dumping yard to Alevoor Gram Panchayat. But the people of Alevoor village are against it.

The new garbage disposal scheme at Alevoor will be taken up under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Management Project (KUDCEMP) at a cost of Rs. 5 crore.

The project will be completed in one year. The executive engineer of KUDCEMP Rajashekhar said the officials of KUDCEMP, the Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj and MLA Raghupati Bhat have tried to educate people about the scientific nature of waste disposal.

"We have tried to convince the people about the project. Their only worry is with regard to the maintenance of the garbage disposal project. The State Government has given its nod for the project and the work will start shortly," he said.

Udupi has also been chosen under the "Nirmala Nagara Yojana" scheme. This scheme aims at door-to-door collection of waste and elimination of dustbins.

Effort in vain

The vice-president of Udupi CMC Kiran Kumar said that though committees were formed in every ward in the city to educate people about segregation of plastic materials and other garbage to facilitate easy disposal, it had not been successful. "People do not want to pay nominal fees for garbage collection and it would take at least four years for the scheme to be successful," he said.

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