BENGALURU: As directed by the National Green Tribunal, the city’s civic bodies will be filing a report on the action taken so far to curb pollution in Bellandur Lake. The report was to be filed two weeks after the Tribunal’s order.
Besides, an affidavit will also be filed seeking extension of time to clean the lake as de-weeding alone is going to take at least three-four months. Since the Tribunal’s order copy was received only on Friday, Additional chief secretary Mahendra Jain says the action taken report will be filed by next week.
Meanwhile, residents and experts are not happy with the progress of the work.
On April 19, the Tribunal issued strict directions to the Urban Development Department to clean up the lake in a month’s time, as sustained inflow of untreated sewage and effluents from apartments and industries, especially from four main inlets of Ejipura drain, Agara valley drain, Challaghatta valley drain and Ibblur drains have contaminated the lake.
Mahendra Jain points out, “All the departments have to submit a report on the work initiated by them and they are working on it. We will be submitting them by next week. Besides, in the coming week, we plan to expedite the work.” While three earth movers are working at Bellandur Lake for de-weeding on the dry patches, a harvester to clean the weeds in the lake water has been brought in from Mumbai.
Nagaraj, a BDA official, says, “We are assembling it. We will put the machine to work from Monday.”
However, controlling the dumping of garbage is still a challenge for BBMP, considering the lake spans over 900 acres. On the other hand, Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board are yet to come up with wet land development design. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board will soon prepare another list of industries around the lake that need to be shut.
The residents in and around Bellandur Lake have been keeping a close vigil on the movement of VIPs and the ongoing work. Sonali Singh, a resident, says, “We need more equipment to clean this lake. Besides, we want to know the details of the work given out to the contractor so that we can keep track. But there seems to be no information.”
No more dumping at Varthur Lake
After the arrest of eight lorry drivers and owners for dumping debris on the Varthur lake bed on Thursday night, the movement of such lorries has stopped. A resident said, “We are glad that there is some deterrence taking place. Now, we want the authorities to clear the debris that has been dumped on the lake bed.”