3 govt entities vie for 100 acres at defunct Mavallipura landfill site in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: At least three state government entities are vying for a large piece of land in North Bengaluru's Mavallipura, the site of garbage dumping over a decade ago. 

One department aims to establish an exclusive sports university on the 100-acre plot, worth hundreds of crores of rupees, while the BBMP is keen to re-establish a solid waste management (SWM) plant at the same location. 

Separately, the law department has requested a portion of the land to develop residential quarters for its staff. 

The land in question is situated in Survey Number 8 of Mavallipura village in Yelahanka taluk. 

The 100-acre property adjoins the proposed Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) alignment and the under-construction Shivaram Karanth Layout, which will have around 33,000 residential sites. 

It's learnt that the Revenue Department recently called an initial meeting with various stakeholders to discuss the requests from the BBMP, as well as the law and sports departments. The Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner and the Yelahanka tahsildar were also present. 

The meeting discussed the BBMP’s plan to establish an SWM facility on the 100-acre plot as the city has a shortage of landfill sites. 

However, officers were aware of the pushback from villagers as the civic body had earlier transported around 200 truckloads of garbage daily between 2003 and 2013 until villagers staged a large-scale protest against unscientific dumping of waste there. 

There was also a discussion about the Law Department's request for 30 acres of land for developing a residential complex, auditorium, park, and health and recreation clubs. Officials did not agree to provide land in Mavallipura and decided to look for an alternative location elsewhere. 

The third proposal discussed was the request for 60 acres of land — free from litigation — to establish Karnataka’s exclusive university for sports, complete with facilities for indoor and outdoor activities. The proposal was presented by senior officers from the Department of Sports and Youth Empowerment. 

The Revenue Department, which owns the land, has yet to take any final decision due to "conflicting" requests from different departments. 

Sources indicated that the Sports Department may receive the land for creating sports-related facilities, as local villagers, alongside legal challenges, are unlikely to permit garbage dumping in their area again. 

Srinivas B, a resident of Mavallipura, cited a high court order against transporting waste to the village due to groundwater contamination.