BENGALURU: The National Green Tribunal (NGT)’s stern order to civic bodies last week to restore Bellandur lake is bearing fruits.Weeding of the lake has begun. Installation of three 360-degree CCTV cameras and digging up of elephant trenches around the lake were witnessed on Monday.
In fact, three trucks have been captured on the CCTV cameras dumping garbage into the lake.
Listing out the activities taken up so far, Urban Development Department Additional Chief Secretary Mahendra Jain said the weeding started on Monday and the momentum will pick up in the next few days. He said, “BBMP has already laid elephant trenches so that trucks cannot dump garbage into the lake. Besides, six security guards with flashlights have been deployed 24x7.”
KLCDA CEO Vidyasagar who visited the lake on Monday said, “We have been to the lake to figure out how we can implement the wetland development. We will be receiving the designs on Saturday from Professor T V Ramachandran and only after that we will take further action.”
Each department has been allocated specific responsibility. BDA has taken up weeding of the lake and removal of debris. The BBMP is installing CCTV cameras around the lake to check garbage dumping. KSPCB will ensure industries around the lake are shutdown and do not let sewage into the lake. BWSSB and the Lake Development Authority are accountable for wetland developments.
On April 19, NGT issued strict directions to the the Urban Development Department to clean up the lake within a month. Sustained inflow of untreated sewage from apartments blocks and effluents from industries, especially from Ejipura drain, Agara valley drain, Challaghatta valley drain and Ibblur drain, had contaminated the lake. Negligence by civic authorities for over five years had aggravated the situation. Despite several protests and requests from residents, there had been no developments until NGT stepped in.