"Ready to acquire 100 acres of land": DK Shivakumar invites farmers, builders within 40km of Bengaluru for garbage issue

Ramanagara (Karnataka) [India], February 22 (ANI): Amid the row over the garbage disposal issue in Bengaluru, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday announced that the government is seeking to acquire 100 acres of land from willing farmers near hills and forests, asserting that a "permanent solution" must be found for the waste disposal issue.
Speaking to the media, Shivakumar stated that he has instructed Rs 5000 crore road works to be completed before the monsoon season arrives.
"Yesterday, I conducted a review of Bengaluru city. I have instructed that the road works worth Rs 5,000 crore must be completed by March or April. I have also said that all the work should be finished before the onset of the monsoon," he said.
He further invited farmers who are willing to provide land anywhere within 40 km of the city. "If 5-6 farmers or builders near hilly or forest areas are willing to provide land, we are ready to acquire 100 acres of land at two different locations," he added.
"A permanent solution must be found for the garbage problem," he asserted, further adding that the government has already identified two sites to ensure better garbage disposal and that they are looking for two more sites.
"The city is growing, so we have decided to purchase land now and keep it ready," he said.
A political row over the garbage disposal has erupted in Bengaluru with Shivakumar alleging that Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have been stopping garbage disposal trucks in their constituencies to "blackmail" the state government into giving them grants, with multiple BJP leaders refuting his statements.
Earlier on Wednesday, Shivakumar alleged that BJP MLAs (specifically mentioning Aravind Limbavali and Dheeraj Muniraju) are deliberately obstructing garbage trucks from disposing of waste in the outer zones of Bengaluru.
He claimed that this is a tactic by the opposition to "blackmail" the Congress-led state government into allocating development funds to their constituencies.
On the issue of funds, Shivakumar said the state has already contributed substantial amounts - "Rs 100, 50, 20, 30 crores" - but questioned how the government could be expected to provide "thousands of crores" beyond sanctioned grants.
Firing back, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Wednesday also launched a sharp attack on the Congress-led Karnataka government in an X post, accusing it of "reckless dumping", claiming Bellahalli, Bagalur, and Byappanahalli have become the hubs for hazardous refuse, leading to what she termed the "silent poisoning" of the local population.
BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai responded to the Karnataka Deputy CM Shivakumar's remark on the "garbage dumping" issue, saying that he should rather focus on resolving the problem than making such statements
Speaking to ANI, Tenginkai said that Congress should stop playing the blame game on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"He should think about resolving the issues, whereas he is just concentrating on making statements about dumping garbage in front of R Ashok's house or the BJP office. This has also happened before during the BJP's tenure, but we did not throw garbage in front of Congress's MLA or its party office. We tried to find solutions to the problems, but the statement of the Deputy Chief Minister was not right... and we tried resolving the issue instead of making such rhetoric statements. Congress should quit playing blame games on the BJP..." he said. (ANI)