To corroborate Afroze's statement, Nayak visited the factories in Cuddalore and found that their waste was indeed very similar to that dumped in Yadagere. "As per the consent letter given to Tagross, it is supposed to store the waste in closed sheds on its premises until it developed a secured landfill for disposal. All the stored waste has to be entered into the logbooks," says Nayak, adding, "When we asked them for the record, they could not furnish any for 2004-05."

Riyaz and Afroze were arrested and some more links were uncovered. This is how the racket operated: the two companies in Tamil Nadu gave the sludge to Senthil Velan of Sun Chemicals in Cuddalore to dispose it of Velan in turn sold it to Afroze in Karnataka, who tied up with Riyaz to dump the waste in the field. To cover his tracks, Afroze operated under a "waste handling" company, Shakthi Enterprises, registered in Goa. And this is how the economy of dumping worked:

Afroze took the waste from Velan at Rs 350 a barrel and sold it to Riyaz for Rs 500, who cleaned and sold each barrel for Rs 700.

PCB seized a document from the arrested dealers, showing that Super Petroleum Products in Taloja had recommended Afroze to Shasun Drugs and Chemicals in Cuddalore for collecting drums containing waste oil. Afroze also disclosed that he had dumped 80 barrels on the roadside near Lambani Thanda town on Gauribidanur-Koratagere Road in Tumkur.

Riyaz and Sheikh are out on bail and other culprits across the border remain unpunished because the Karnataka PCB cannot take action against anyone in other states. The board has asked its counterparts in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Puducherry to look into the matter and check illegal transportation. None of them has responded so far.

Yadagere is just one case of illegal dumping of hazardous waste. It is happening on a wider scale. Cut to Chamrajnagar district, 137 km from Bangalore in a direction opposite to Tumkur. Some people in Kundakere village of Gundlupet taluka are calling for action against panchayat member Puttanajappa. His crime is that he allowed lorries to bring dangerous waste to his two-hectare field. "My land is barren, and a contact of mine told me that it would become fertile if I allowed some people from Kerala to dump biodegradable waste there," he says. What they dumped, however, was not biodegradable waste, but dangerous biomedical, municipal and slaughter house waste. Some bags bore the names of Kochi and Kaladi towns, which are 210 km away. Why would somebody want to spend so much money on transportation is a mystery the Karnataka PCB is still trying to solve.

Puttanajappa says he allowed 15 trucks of waste to be dumped in the pits in his field. "Majid from Gopika restaurant in Gundlupet town contacted me and said that he knew a few people who would dump waste in my land to generate compost. They paid Rs 1,365 per tonne which was spent on digging," he says. Here too six 10-foot-deep pits were dug to dispose of the waste and then covered with soil.

On villagers' complaint, the local PCB unit dug up the pits. It found medicine strips, plastic gloves and syringes besides bones and municipal solid waste, says Shakuntala Bai, regional environment officer, Chamrajnagar. Water samples taken from nearby borewells were found to have high levels of fluoride and magnesium. Fluoride can cause dental damage and birth defects, while magnesium intake can result in muscle weakness. The water was turbid. There is no evidence of the waste on the surface since most of the dug-up waste has been washed away.

PCB has told Puttanjappa to remove the waste from his land and dispose it of scientifically. "We have registered a case against Puttanjappa under Section 133 of CrPC. How can he not know what kind of waste people are dumping in his land?"

asks Shakuntala Bai. "I have told them the names of the people who brought the waste and also about Majid. Why doesn't PCB question them instead? If the waste has crossed the border, it must have been cleared at the check post. Obviously, those people were hand in glove with the check post people," says Puttanajappa.