Bengaluru’s 6,000-tonne-a-day waste system, already held together by a fragile network of peripheral landfills and processing plants, hit breaking point this week as residents around two major sites – Bellahalli (Mahadevapura constituency) and Chigaranahalli (Doddaballapur constituency), blocked garbage trucks from entering.
The standstill quickly spiralled into a political battle, with the Congress government accusing BJP legislators of orchestrating the blockade even as Opposition leaders blamed the state for allowing the crisis to fester.
The immediate spark was the death of a two-year-old boy in a road accident in Mahadevapura on Sunday. Bellahalli residents said the dangerous condition of internal village roads, damaged by years of heavy garbage-laden truck movement, made such an incident inevitable. On February 17, residents had blocked access to vehicles headed toward the Bellahalli landfill, leaving trucks that had entered the site unable to exit. Other processing plants across the city reported similar disruptions.
Tensions peaked on Wednesday, February 18, when residents of Chigaranahalli, joined by Doddaballapura MLA Dheeraj Muniraju, stopped additional waste vehicles from entering their area. Dheeraj said the community had long opposed the waste-processing unit and had even challenged it in court. “Our demand is that waste should not be processed or dumped here,” he said, denying allegations that the agitation was politically motivated.
Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister DK Shivakumar, however, accused BJP MLAs of blocking trucks to “blackmail” the government for funds. He warned that the state would invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act if needed. “May it be MLA or anyone else, we will be merciless and dump the waste in front of their houses or the BJP office,” he said, arguing that the current administration was using the same waste-disposal facilities as the previous government.
“If they are stopping waste here, it should go to R Ashoka’s (Leader of Opposition) house or BY Vijayendra’s (BJP state president) house or the BJP office. Who are they blackmailing?” he added.
According to reports, legislators across parties, including Congress Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and BJP MLAs Manjula Lungbavali, S T Somashekar (expelled), Dheeraj Muniraju, and Congress MLA M Krishnappa, have resisted waste being sent to their constituencies after the government refused to clear a proposed Rs 350-crore special grant in the civic budget.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka hit back, accusing the government of running a “garbage mafia” and warning that the city would turn “stenchy” within days.
The blockade has brought much of the city’s waste movement to a standstill. On Tuesday alone, residents stopped more than 150 trucks from entering Bellahalli. Troubles elsewhere, including in Mahadevapura and Byatarayanapura, led to nearly 400 trucks being diverted to Bellahalli, far exceeding its permitted cap of 70 trucks per day, further aggravating local anger.
Dheeraj, on February 18, said he had not demanded funds nor tried to pressure the government. “I neither want any funds nor the waste from Bengaluru. The government is free to impose ESMA and send me to jail,” he said. He added that Doddaballapura already receives about 72 compactors full of the city's waste every day. While he allowed the mandated 72 vehicles into Chigaranahalli, he opposed the nearly 400 additional trucks diverted there earlier this week, calling the diversion unfair as it placed an excessive burden on his constituency.
A breakthrough came on Wednesday evening, when officials said the standoff at Bellahalli had been resolved. Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd CEO Karee Gowda said orders had been issued to take up development works around landfill and processing sites. By Thursday, the designated 70 trucks were allowed in again.
The city’s landfill network, which includes Mittaganahalli, Kannur, Chikkanagamangala, Kannahalli, Doddabidarakallu and Bellahalli, remained strained through the week. While officials noted that Rs 90 crore had been allocated for development around these sites, residents said the funding was inadequate. Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner M Maheshwar Rao said the release of funds was underway in phases.