BANGALORE: With the private garbage contractors refusing to dump the city's waste on the outskirts clandestinely any longer, it could be stink all the way for Bangaloreans now.

The contractors have stopped transportation from Friday and as many as 293 lorries laden with garbage have lined up at various places.

While Friday's waste of 1,800 tonnes is rotting in the lorries, an equal amount of garbage generated on Saturday has not been lifted from the areas cleaned by the private contractors.

The situation is likely to worsen on Sunday, as the contractors are serious about their demand for designated dumping yards.

Upset with the repeated protests by villagers and farmers of areas in the vicinity of the temporary dumping places, the contractors wrote to BBMP Commissioner K. Jairaj on May 2 to send an escort official with every vehicle for dumping or allot official dumping yards.

Though a team of top officials led by Mr. Jairaj inspected alternative dumping sites in Bommanahalli and Mandur on Saturday, they were unable to arrive at a solution. "We are looking at various options and working out logistics. Alternative measures will be chalked out to resolve the issue," a top official said.

Mr. Jairaj also met the contractors on Saturday and coaxed them to continue till some solution is worked out.

But the contractors, who refuse to relent, said that they would not yield to any pressure this time.

"We have been facing the wrath of villagers and are paying Rs. 500 for every lorry that we dump in the temporary pits. Our demand for designated dumping yards has not been considered and we cannot go on like this," general secretary of the Bangalore Mahanagara Swachate Lorry Maalikara Mattu Guttigedarara Sangha S. Balasubramaniam said.

Fine

Sources in the BBMP told The Hindu that the problem arose because the commissioner has been slapping fine on the contractors for every small reasons.

A fine of more than Rs. 5 lakh has been collected from the private contractors over the last one week. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has also taken note of the issue and directed the commissioner to resolve the matter at the earliest.

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