BENGALURU: Two months after authorities had been alerted about a green discharge seeping into Kalkere Lake, near Ramamurthy Nagar, which killed several fish, several carcasses have been spotted again. This in spite of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) having ensured that treated water from the sewage treatment plant (STP) is not being discharged into the lake. The residents in the area allege that the BWSSB has not been discharging treated water into the lake, which leads to the death of these fish.
A resident, who also works as a contractor for the Fisheries Department, says, “At night, they let out untreated water into the lake. It looks like drain water, sometimes we also see froth.”
BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath says that the water that gets discharged by the STP near the lake is treated, but the water that is discharged into other lakes is not treated. “Untreated sewage water from Yelahanka and Jakkur, which are upstream, is being diverted into Kalkere. The solution to this is to build a wetland at Kalkere. And we should also plan two three STPs upstream. We have planned for this in Puttanahali, and it should be complete in two years,” he adds. Construction debris is being dumped around the lake area, which has been polluting the stormwater drain situated right next to the lake. This has led to frothing in the stormwater drain, and due to the rain, the drainage has been blocked, leading to the water flowing into the lake.
The residents have approached the site engineer for the lake, Shashidhar, who says that the rubble is being dumped by a private layout next to the lake. “They are dumping construction debris, and the developer of this property is not around.”
In order to clear the debris, the engineer claims the compound wall of the property needs to be demolished.
“The compound is on higher ground, so we need to break the wall to be able to clean the lake from the other end. The developer has agreed to the compound wall being demolished. In two days time, the wall should be demolished and the lake should be cleared of the rubble.”