Watt the hell: Trash-to-energy project at Mandur is total waste

 In 2005, the state government and the BBMP gave land and money to a private operator for a garbage processing project at Mandur, that was expected to produce power for Bangaloreans’ homes and compost for farmers’ fields from the city’s garbage.

Eight years down the line, the project that was expected to generate eight megawatt power from garbage, has not produced even a single watt, nor has it produced a single kilo of compost. The much-touted garbage processing has been reduced to mere dumping of hundreds of tonnes of garbage at the unfortunate village that has turned into virtual hell for its inhabitants.

The sorry saga began with the state government handing over 85 acres of land near Mandur to Srinivasa Gaythri Resource Recovery Limited (SGRRL) on September 5, 2005 for establishing waste to energy project. Besides, producing eight megawatts of power to power-hungry Bangalore, the contractor was required to supply thousands of tonnes of compost to farmers of Mandur and surrounding villages, either at free of cost or subsidised price. The BBMP spent lakhs of rupees to construct compound wall around the project site in 2006.

Sources confirm that the SGRRL received considerable sums of money from Central government as well as state government under various schemes for taking up waste management.

The mess is not SGRRL creation totally. The BBMP, true to its nature , began transporting garbage to the site only on September 2, 2008, three years after the land was handed over to the contractor and two years after the compound wall was built.

Five years later, the power plant that was supposed to produce power is yet to be completed.
“Around 70% of the construction work has been completed and efforts are on to complete the remaining work. As of now, we are focusing on gasification project and compost unit. We are constructing a sump to store water for the gasification unit,’’ said an employee of SGRRL who declined to be identified.

A dna reporter and a photographer who visited the waste-to-energy project site, saw some workers from Bihar and Jharkhand hanging around, apparently with no definite tasks. Part of the equipment for the power plant is lying around rusting, and part is yet to be unpacked, four years after it was brought to the site. 

Outraged residents of Mandur question the very bona fides of the project. They allege the SGRRL was established only to make money and certainly not for either generating power or compost.
“Till now, not even a single farmer from Mandur has got any compost from SGRRL. They claim to be supplying the compost to the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation (KCDC) in bulk, which is doubtful, because they were supposed to give it to us,’’ said a farmer.

“It’s all bogus. SGRRL has promised a lot, but delivered nothing. Its management knows how to make money and pay off politicians,’’ said Gopal Rao MC of Vidyaranya, an NGO.

“The BBMP has been paying lakhs of rupees as tipping fee every month to the SGRRL. Around 1,000 tonnes of garbage is being supplied to the contractor, who, instead of using for generating power and making compost, is just dumping the waste in the landfill, causing health and environmental hazards,” MJ Byresh, a resident of Mandur, said. “They promised to spray pesticides to check mosquitoes, but it has just remained a promise.”

The contractor’s inaction, BBMP’s apathy and the state government’s hands-off attitude has turned Mandur into a purgatory. Unimaginable stench emanates from the mounds of untreated garbage in normal times. In monsoon, The downpour brings foul-smelling leachates into the village, and once the rain stops, buzzing clouds of mosquitoes invade the village, forcing the residents to virtually live inside mosquito nets.

Such is their plight that even hardened politicians, like BBMP mayor Satyanarayana have expressed anguish at their fate, which is certainly not of their making. “We did not ask for Bangalore’s garbage to be dumped at our door step. We did not ask for idyllic lives to be turned into miserable. But having done so, why do the government and BBMP not even bother about our plight,” asks a resident.

The mild-mannered residents, whose timidity was exploited by the powers are thrashed by police if they protest. False cases are registered against the protest leaders.

Meanwhile, Dr KT Yatish Kumar, Joint Commissioner (Health), BBMP, said the civic body was “not happy” with the SGRRL.

What about a performance audit? “We have issued a no progress notice to the SGRRL on December 9, 2013. We have received a reply from the SGRRL but it is not a concrete reply. We will give them one more opportunity, since it is a huge project involving crores of rupees. They have to come out with a concrete action plan,’’ said Dr Yatish Kumar.

Attempts to contact Ashirwad Bingi of SGRRL failed as his phone was not reachable.