The decision of the Karnataka Pollution Control Board (KPCB) to identify 3 sites in Mysore district for dumping hazardous wastes from industries has run into rough weather, with the local people strongly opposing the plan. They fear that the sites, each measuring about 10.12 ha with storage capacities of up to 3.5 lakh tonnes, could become a nuclear wastes dumpyard.

"We don't know what they are going to dump here, and nobody would be surprised if nuclear wastes from a rare-material plant situated in the district is dumped here," says Mallesh, district secretary of the Karnataka Raitha Sangha, a militant farmers organisation spearheading the agitation.

KPCB officials insist that the sites were selected at the Centre's behest, and that similar sites have been proposed in other districts of the state.