Daijiworld Media Network - Mandya (SP)

Mandya, Feb 5: Officials of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board raided a plantation near Karekura, Srirangapatna in the district on Saturday February 4 and took into possession two trucks and about 300 tonnes of garbage found dumped there.

The locals had complained to the officials about waste from Kerala being transported and heaped here. The officials also filed complaint in the police station here about the dumping of waste and seeking action against the guilty.

Both Patel Rame Gowda and his son Vinay, who own the land where the garbage was dumped, have gone missing. Drivers of the trucks also fled from the scene during the raid. The officials estimated that over 300 tonnes of waste including plastic was stored there. District environmental officer, Savita, senior environmental officer from Mysuru, K M Lingaraju, and officers, Yatish and M G Raghuram, had led the raiding party.

The villagers had tipped the officials about garbage being dumped by trucks bringing it from Kerala in the areca nut plantation owned by Patel Rame Gowda. Locals noticed the illegal activity after the garbage dump got extended till the road. The officials said that middlemen  lure the drivers of trucks carrying goods from Karnataka to Kerala by offering money to take waste in their trucks. The people who provide land for dumping too get money, and the people then sort out the garbage and separate plastic and other things, which are sold for handsome amounts.