Living in hell

Defence Secretary assures relief

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

"My two children still have fever. They were at the Intensive Care Unit for five days", Priyangani Padmalatha says. The two, Ayodya (16) and Kalana (7), are still pose a lethargic appearance, peep in with scary eyes. They are reluctant to come out as they have a phobia for mosquitos.

"My daughter has dengue fever. My brother's family of five, is ill with dengue", complains Neil Silva.

"That is Rasika's house. She has vacated the house as her two small children are frequently ill with fever", Padmalatha says.

"Children and adults of five families in Darmapura are infected with dengue and are still in the hospital", Naufar says.

Complaints pour in from residents who are virtually facing 'death'. Though dengue is a problem for them, their main worry is the 'garbage mountain' that 'adorns' their vicinity. It has created a hell for them.

Surrounded by the notorious 'Meetotamulla garbage dump' and a stagnating canal, for the residents of Darmapura, their homes are not 'sweet homes sweet' any more!

Inoka Shiromi's small kitchen opens to the stinking garbage mountain and murky canal which is bubbling with mosquito lava. With no space to play, her son Saumaya (8) does not come out as flies and mosquitos are waiting to 'welcome' him! The indigenous mosquito repellent 'pangiri oil' is applied all over his body day and night, as the 'Mosquito Coils' are beyond reach

"He does not eat much as the smell is unbearable. We do not have a place to dry our clothes. If they are put out to dry, the clothes smell awful. Some days my son cannot go to school as his uniforms are smelly", Inoka is about to cry.

With the slogan "Kolamba Kunu Apata Epa" (We don't want Colombo garbage) the residents living around the massive garbage dump are agitating against the Colombo Municipal Council for dumping garbage at Meetotamulla since 2009.

Over 4,000 people in the surrounding areas - Pansalhena, Meetotamulla, Nagahamulla, Darmapura and Wellampitiya - are affected with the ever stinking garbage mountain.

The students of Rahula Primary school, Terance de Silva Vidyalaya and the Vidyawardena Vidyalaya too are affected by the stink. They cannot study or enjoy their interval during school hours due to the awful smell, and the threat of flies and mosquitos.

The 'nightmare' occurred in 2009 with the garbage from Colombo being dumped in the two acre land which was primarily intended to dump garbage collected within the Kolonnawa Urban Council limits. The daily four to five lorry loads soared upto 800 tonnes.

While the 'nicely worded' proposals on ways and means of disposing garbage in an eco-friendly manner are shelved in the Municipality cupboards for ever the garbage dumped in haphazardly at the Meetotamulla site have posed a serious threat to the community. Until it grew upto 20 feet in height, the CMC and Kolonnawa UC continued to dump garbage making the entire area virtually a hell-hole.

During the thunder showers the dump turns into a swamp with knee down slush polluted blackish water. They swim in flood with floating plastic bags, of rotten food and wood, decomposed animal carcasses, polythene bags, clothing and other debris that are toxic to human health.

The smell is putrid and toxic. " We are helpless. We are now immune to the foul smell.

But the small ones vomit often and suffer from asthma, diarrhoea, fever and skin rash", Inoka complains.

They are happy with the recent changes that take place with the intervention of the Urban Development Chairman and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. He has ordered the CM and Kolonnawa UC to dump garbage in more systematically to reduce the impact on health and environment.

Now the 20-feet garbage dump has been levelled and two new roads are being developed to facilitate the process.

The soldiers of the Field Engineers unit are deployed to expedite the work. Three bulldozers are used to level the garbage mountain.

"We are working here from July 1. It was a massive dump", Lance Corporal Sampath, who is operating a dozer said.

Nimal Jayawardena, owner of the Raja Motors, Samapura, says it is unfair to make the residents of Meetotamulla to suffer from the stinking garbage transported from Colombo.

He calls upon the UDA authorities to shift the site to an alternative location.

"It is pathetic to see them living with this awful smell round the clock. They can't even entertain a visitor and their relatives are reluctant to visit them unless there is an emergency.

They have been isolated and their children have become very unfortunate as they do not have a healthy environment to live in. My sister's children are frequently being afflicted with skin rashes and fever", Jayawardena says.

But he is optimistic that the Defence Secretary will find a permanent solution to the garbage problem.

K. D. G. Patrick, a member of the Organisation that went to courts against Colombo Municipal Council bringing garbage to Kolonnawa complains that the original two-acre land meant for waste disposal has now been extended to over 10 acres.

"The impact is immense. People frequently fall ill. We cannot use our well water", he says.

Patrick had complained to President Mahinda Rajapaksa who ordered the CMC and UC to take speedy action to solve the problem.

Residents of Meetotamulla thank the Defence Secretary for taking speedy action and request him to find an alternative site to dispose of the CMC garbage, Patrick said.

Authorities have their say:

Omar Kamil, Special Commissioner, Colombo Municipal Council:

Over 650 metric tonnes of garbage are dumped at the Meetotamulla site daily. This has been the practice for the last one and half years. The disposal of garbage was not done properly until the Ministry of Defence intervened recently.

Now it is done in more efficient manner than earlier after the intervention of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. When he visited the site he ordered the relevant authorities to ensure that the garbage is disposed of in an eco-friendly manner.

Today the work is carried out under the supervision of the Police and the Army. Lorry-loads of earth are being levelled on top of the garbage to facilitate saturation process.

The CMC is looking for an alternative site to dump waste and have several options but not yet identified the most suitable land for the purpose.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, Chief Engineer of the Sri Lanka Army:

The site spans to over 13 acres and garbage is dumped by the CMC and Kolonnawa UC. Over 800 metric tonnes of garbage are dumped daily. The two local bodies had not dumped waste properly and just unloaded the waste at the entrance creating a garbage mountain.

They have not made use of the rest of the dumping site as the entrance remain blocked. The canal was also blocked with waste.

The Army's task is to level the huge garbage mountain. Two accesses have been created to reach the other end of the site. Canal is cleaned and de-silted. Once the garbage mountain is cleared the soldiers will be withdrawn and the site will be maintained by the Kolonnawa UC.

Charitha Herath, Chairman, Central Environment Authority (CEA)

We agree that there is a serious issue at the Meetotamulla garbage disposal site. The site was divided into two and the CEA was given a mandate to set up a solid waste management centre to make compost. But the CEA could not proceed due to this issue.

The CMC which collect money from its rate payers needs to be more responsible in dumping their garbage without burdening people in other areas.

Pix : Chinthaka Kumarasinghe