Hyderabad: Smoke from burning trash puts lives at risk

Apart from being a major risk factor for triggering upper respiratory ailments among the residents, the land is just a stone’s throw away from the Mrugavani National Park, which is home to protected animals and birds.

Hyderabad: For over two months now, a parcel of land along Chevella road has been emitting pungent smoke from burning garbage. Apart from being a major risk factor for triggering upper respiratory ailments among the residents, the land is just a stone’s throw away from the Mrugavani National Park, which is home to protected animals and birds. The dumpyard is also less than a kilometre away from Osman Sagar, which not only poses a threat to the water body, but also potentially impacts the local ecology.

In addition to independent dwelling units and farmhouses, there are two schools with around 1,800 students, multiple small businesses, colleges and hostels in the vicinity, which are affected by the continuous smoke emerging from the dump site.

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“A few weeks ago, I submitted a complaint to the Pollution Control Board. They promised us to send a team to investigate but no one has come yet. The smoke is so intense that the entire neighbourhood, including us, is not able to open windows. I am asthmatic, and cannot step out of my home,” says Christopher Jude, a resident in the area.

Locals say that the two-acre land is part of a legal case and it was leased by the Gram Panchayat to a private entity. However, individuals who claim to be the owners of the land assert that it was their property which the Panchayat had used to dump garbage. Repeated efforts to contact the Moinabad Gram Panchayat officials went unanswered.

“Multiple trucks come every day and dump the waste here. They say it is from local neighbourhoods like Aziznagar and Himayatnagar. But there is no way these places produce so much waste,” said a small business owner, who wished to remain anonymous. Adjacent to the site is also an incinerator that burns garbage.

The local residents pointed out that the authorities do not have a proper waste management plan and have a lackadaisical approach towards the environmental crisis, which is also putting a lot of risk on the local wildlife.