Madikeri: Madikeri’s long-pending garbage hill is finally being cleared, with work to remove legacy waste beginning on Friday.Garbage sorting has started at the site, where the contractor awarded the waste-transportation contract has deployed heavy machinery to segregate and clear the accumulated waste.For the past 13 years, there have been protests and legal battles to address the issue of garbage by the SRVK Association of Madikeri. On the instructions of the court to clear the legacy waste and to provide an alternative place to dump the garbage, the area was identified by the district administration. However, the process was delayed as the required no-objection certificate was withheld, with the land falling under the forest department’s “deemed forest” category.As the pile of garbage increased, a tender was called for the transportation of garbage, and Basheer, a native of Pune, given the contracted. Bhoomi puja was performed last year to clear the garbage. After bringing the machines and starting work, the contractor went back with the machine as it started raining, but even after one year, he did not return. Despite a notice from the City Municipal Council, failed to get a response from the contractor. Subsequently, members of the SRVK Association met MLA Mantar Gowda and apprised him of the situation. The MLA immediately contacted municipal administration minister Rahim Khan, who assured that he would direct the contractor to resume the work without delay. Following the minister’s instructions, the contractor returned with machinery and restarted operations.At present, two garbage-sorting machines and one Hitachi excavator are working at the site, marking the first significant progress in clearing the long-standing garbage mound.
