BENGALURU: Bengaluru Development Minister K J George suspects arson to be behind the recent fire in Bellandur Lake and said ‘some people’ were trying to defame Bengaluru, here on Sunday. “Methane gas is produced in marshy lands (like Bellandur). However, they do not combust spontaneously,” he said.
“Though the fire occurred in the lake premises, it was depicted as if the lake had caught fire. People who are in the expert committee formed for the rejuvenation of lakes criticised us on television channels,” he said.
The fire had occurred during the last stage of rejuvenation of Bellandur and Varthur lakes. In order to prevent polluted water from entering the lakes, sewage treatment plants were already being installed, he said.
He was speaking at a programme held to inaugurate and lay foundation stones to various projects in C V Raman Nagar constituency.
In the event - where Public Works Department Minister H C Mahadevappa was projected as the next Congress candidate of the constituency — George trained his guns at ‘one Rajya Sabha member from Bengaluru’ for hindering the development of Bengaluru.
“Whenever any developmental works are taken up, the member petitions the court and prevents it. He is not from Karnataka and serves some other interests,” he said.
“Some people are trying to malign Bengaluru’s image. Such people will be taught an appropriate lesson by the people of Bengaluru,” he said. The minister’s remarks come two days after a massive fire broke out near Bellandur Lake, which pushed into action 5,000 personnel of Army Service Corps, apart from fire and emergency services personnel, to douse the flames.
The fire, which was first spotted on Friday noon, took till Saturday to be doused.
Soon after, the incident had taken a political turn, with Union Minister for Human Resource Development and BJP in-charge for Karnataka Prakash Javdekar describing the incident to be a ‘man-made disaster’ caused by the inaction of George.
Meet to discuss lake rejuvenation
Residents around Bellandur and Varthur lakes, as well as activists and environmentalists from the city, will hold a meeting with Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on Monday to discuss the rejuvenation of Bellandur Lake. The meeting will also be attended by officials of BWSSB, BDA, BBMP and Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority.