Jawahar Nagar anti-dumping yard protest sees preventive arrests

HYDERABAD: Police made several preventive arrests ahead of a planned protest against the Jawahar Nagar dumping yard on 11 July. Officers detained several Joint Action Committee (JAC) leaders and activists in the hours before the demonstration. Despite this, organisers called the protest a success and promised to keep campaigning against waste management contractor Ramky. Meanwhile,JAC […]<![CDATA[HYDERABAD: Police made several preventive arrests ahead of a planned protest against the Jawahar Nagar dumping yard on 11 July. Officers detained several Joint Action Committee (JAC) leaders and activists in the hours before the demonstration. Despite this, organisers called the protest a success and promised to keep campaigning against waste management contractor Ramky. Meanwhile,JAC activist K. Padma Chary said police started making arrests before the protest even began. “Arrests started yesterday evening. Some people were arrested at midnight and sent to different police stations,” he said. Chary described the crackdown as proof that authorities were nervous about the size of the planned protest. He also said hundreds of police officers were at the protest site almost two hours before demonstrators arrived. In addition, police detained JAC co-conveners Anugula Sanjeev Reddy and Kethipalli Padma Chary, along with Perla Vijay Kumar and Vasa Kiran Gupta from Siddartha Nagar Colony; Mahendra Kumar from Satyanarayana Colony; Narsimha Sai, Kamlakar, Ravi, and Sai from Anjanadri Colony; and Vinod from Laxmi Ganapati Nagar Colony in Bandlaguda. Furthermore, police detained Pandala Anuradha Yadagiri Goud, former Sarpanch of Dammaiguda, to prevent her from joining the protest. JAC said the Circle Inspector and Sub-Inspector of Jawahar Nagar Police Station took her into custody. Officials also put protestor Shanthi Kotesh Goud under house arrest for the same reason. Padma Chary said he was also arrested and remains in Keesara Police Station. Meanwhile, Anugula Sanjeev Reddy, a leader of the Jawahar Nagar Anti-Dumping Yard JAC, urged residents to keep protesting despite the arrests. “We hope officials allow us to speak out peacefully and democratically,” he said. He asked people to come out of their homes and unite for their health, their children’s future, and their rights. The JAC said in a notice that it has campaigned since October 2018 to move the Jawahar Nagar dumping yard and start bio-mining the waste already there. The group has taken the issue to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and worked outside the courts as well. The JAC notice by convenor Dr. B. Shankar Narayanan, claims that GHMC, the Telangana Pollution Control Board (TPCB), and Ramky Management have failed to follow Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules at the site. The JAC says about 1.6 million people living near the Jawahar Nagar dumping yard now face health problems from air and water pollution. The JAC also cited a University of California, Los Angeles study on solid waste management in 18 countries. The notice says the Jawahar Nagar dumping yard releases 5 to 9 metric tonnes of methane gas every hour, totaling about 141 tonnes each day. The JAC says this pollution harms both people and the environment. The notice adds that the NGT and Supreme Court ordered bio-mining at the site, but GHMC, TPCB, and Ramky have ignored these orders and sent inaccurate reports to the courts. The JAC made several demands including to stop sending new waste to the Jawahar Nagar dumping yard, start bio-mining old waste immediately, fully control leachate flow into water bodies, provide clean drinking water and medical care for affected residents, and prevent more environmental damage. The notice further says the Chief Minister promised a permanent solution by 4 May 2026, but the JAC waited until 30 June without any action. At the same time, there were attempts to set up new dumping yards in Pyaranagar, Siddapur, and Bandaraviryala, but local MLAs and village leaders stopped them. In another appeal, residents accused the government and officials of ignoring NGT and Supreme Court orders while dumping continues at the site. They said officials make promises only during elections. Residents say they are simply asking for the right to live and urge authorities to follow court orders and stop dumping. Despite the arrests, JAC leaders said the protest achieved its goal. They called the ‘Garbage Go Back’ movement a success. Leaders said the large police presence showed the government was worried about public support. Organisers promised the campaign will continue and grow, pointing to Telangana’s long history of public movements. ]]>

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