Bengaluru farmers protest against upcoming waste-to-energy plant

BENGALURU: The farmers from Kodiyala Karenahalli, Bidadi hobli staged a protest in front of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) head office on May 21, which has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) to set up a waste-to-energy plant of 200 tons capacity in the village.

They submitted the memorandum to Gangambike Mallikarjun, Mayor and N Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner demanding that the project to be scrapped.

Gopal S, member of the gram panchayat and one of the protesters, said that the civic body had earlier given an undertaking that no garbage would be dumped in the village. “However, attempts are now being made to give Transfer of Development Rights to the land owner. We are resisting this attempt to convert agricultural land into a dump yard,” he said, adding that the proposed site is near schools and fertile land. “We are already suffering, as the polluted Vrushabhavathy river flows near the village,” he added.

Sarfaraz Khan, BBMP Joint Commissioner (SWM) said that as per the MoU with KPCL, the civic body would only be sending low-grade plastics and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to the plant for incineration in kilns, much like in cement plants. “The communities don’t know about the technology that will be adopted.” he said.