RAMANAGAR: Byramangala Lake in Ramanagara is as infamous as Bengaluru’s Bellandur Lake — froth floating on the water body, some even flying in the air distracting motorists, dark grey colour water and bad smell.
Thanks to the lockdown, Byramangala Lake is recovering. When TNIE team visited, the frothing was much less.
“Froth used to fly and fall on motorists. It used to cause itching. There was an overwhelming stench too. But now, frothing has reduced and there is no bad smell. This lake was crystal clear once, but gradually, we became the victim of industrial effluents and sewage from Bengaluru,’’ Honnaiah (78) from a nearby village said.
He added that things had been better since the lockdown was imposed. The lake is part of the Vrushabhavathi Valley and receives toxic pollutants mainly from hundreds of industries in Bidadi and sewage from Bengaluru.
The canal (naala) from the lake passes through at least 28 villages in Byramangala.
Toxic pollutants enter agricultural fields where farmers grow sugarcane and paddy.
This apart, cattle too drink this water and milk is supplied to Bengaluru. Right from expired medicines to paint, industrial effluents containing acid, fluoride, methyl and more, all which are harmful to the human body, would end up in Byramangala Lake.
The Bidadi Industrial area, spreads across 1,500 acres and has about 150 companies.
Besides, there are places like Wonderla, Innovative film city and many star hotels where high footfall is witnessed.
During the lockdown, entire industries, hospitality sector and other places were shut, due to which less quantity of effluents were added to the stream.
And the Ramanagara DC authorities have taken up work in the lake, removing weeds.
Prof N Nandini, chairperson, Dept of Environmental Science, BU, who has conducted a study on the valley including Byramangala Lake, said there were more than 150 types of viruses found.
“The water stream has heavy metals and much more that changed the colour into dark grey. The colour is changing and the froth too is reducing after the lockdown. However, domestic waste has not reduced as the usage of soaps and detergents has increased,” she said.