Residents living near Sainik School in Bhubaneswar have asked authorities to stop waste vehicles from entering the Gadakana dumping yard during Durga Puja, warning that they will begin a hunger strike and protest if the demand is not accepted. The residents submitted a memorandum to the member secretary of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board.
The demand is linked to the transfer and accumulation of waste at the Gadakana temporary transit station, or TTS, located near Sainik School. Residents have asked that dumping stop until the waste mound is removed from the area. They have also sought an end to the movement of waste vehicles into the site during the festival period.
Members of the Sainik School Bachao and Amlia Gada Hatao Abhiyan said they would sit on hunger strike outside the Pollution Control Board office and hold a protest near the waste mound during Durga Puja if waste vehicles continue to enter the yard. The organisation has previously held demonstrations, sit-ins and hunger strikes over the site, according to the report.
The residents’ campaign has also raised the issue with state and central authorities. Activists said the Union defence minister had written to the Odisha chief minister about removing what they described as an illegal and toxic waste mound. The report does not provide the date or details of that letter.
The Gadakana site has remained a point of concern for nearby residents because of the volume of accumulated waste and its proximity to established urban institutions and neighbourhoods. The campaigners alleged that toxic gases and pollution from the waste mound had contributed to deaths and serious illnesses among people in the surrounding area. These health claims were made by the campaigners and were not independently established in the supplied report.
The Odisha State Pollution Control Board has previously written to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, asking it to remove the waste mound and providing a time limit for action, according to the residents. The report describes the communication as a warning issued after a delay, but does not specify the deadline or the steps taken by the civic body in response.
The latest memorandum places the Pollution Control Board at the centre of the immediate dispute, while waste collection and disposal operations remain linked to the municipal corporation. The residents are seeking a temporary halt during the festival as well as the longer-term removal of the waste mound near Sainik School.
The report does not include a response from the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the Pollution Control Board or the Odisha government to the latest demand. The residents’ proposed hunger strike and protest are expected to be the next developments if waste vehicles are not stopped during Durga Puja.
