Mr CM, have a glass of our black water

BANGALORE: A few months ago, Jayaram D lost two cows; he claimed they died after drinking contaminated water. The farmer from Mavallipura, 26km from Bangalore, now has a bigger problem on hand: his daughter is in hospital.
Says Jayaram, “I don’t care if I die fighting BBMP officials, but I won’t allow them to dump garbage in the abandoned landfill in my village.” Cattle head have perished like flies in and around Mavallipura.Villagers alleged they died after drinking water from borewells in the village. The heaps of garbage lying in the landfill for nearly a decade, they point out, have been releasing thousands of litres of leachate and polluting the water table. The villagers, helped by environmental activists, had managed to get waste dumping stopped in July 2012. But on Tuesday, the state government announced it would close the Mandur landfill, another garbage flashpoint, and divert waste for processing to Mavallipura. Residents in and around Mavallipura are livid. “Chief minister Siddaramaiah, if you want to process the garbage produced by the city in Mavallipura village, please drink the black contaminated stinking water from a borewell on the outskirts of this village,” they screamed in unison when a TOI team visited the village on Wednesday.
Siddaramaiah had announced that BBMP would stop dumping 1,200 tonnes of garbage by December 1, and process 300 tonnes every day at the Mavallipura waste processing unit. On Wednesday, TOI found a group of villagers sitting next to a borewell with bottles and cans containing black contaminated water, waiting for BBMP officials. Irritated villagers want the chief minister and BBMP officials to understand their problem by drinking this water. The polluted water has had many ill-effects on the people: there’s a rash of skin diseases and children frequently fall ill. Gowramma, a homemaker, said she has no money to spend on her children’s medical expenses. “I’m tired of spending money on doctors. My children complain of stomach ache because of the polluted water. If anyone comes here with garbage, we’ll beat them black and blue with broomsticks,” she added for effect.
Lavaraju, a labourer, said the villagers would fast to death if the BBMP starts processing garbage here. “If they still want to process waste, let them do it over the dead bodies of the villagers,” they declare with a fatalistic air. “Is there a rule that to save the lives of people in Mandur, the villagers of Mavallipura should die?” asks Nagaraj P, a villager.
After BBMP stopped dumping garbage in Mavallipura, they haven’t visited the village even once to discuss the problems caused by the garbage. The villagers are furious that the BBMP has failed to keep its promises. Srinivas B, a gram panchayat member, said when BBMP was dumping garbage in Mavallipura, it assured the residents of free medical checkup camps and compensation to those suffering from various diseases due to garbage dumping, but till date, it hasn’t done anything.