Bengaluru lakes: NGT lake panel report on Feb 15

A report on the progress made by the civic agencies with regard to the rejuvenation of three key lakes in the City, will be submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) by February 15.
The NGT panel collecting water samples at Bellandur Lake
The NGT panel collecting water samples at Bellandur Lake

BENGALURU: A report on the progress made by the civic agencies with regard to the rejuvenation of three key lakes in the City, will be submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) by February 15. A committee, set up for the purpose, has written to the Tribunal recently seeking a one-month extension over the January 15 deadline. The progress made to rejuvenate the polluted Varthur, Bellandur and Agara Lakes by the BWSSB, BDA, KSPCB and the BBMP was to be regularly tracked by the four-member committee headed by former Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde.

Justice Hegde said, “We were supposed to hand it in by January 15 but could not do so due to Covid-related issues. Hence, an extension period has been sought.”  Asked if the extension was likely to be approved, he replied in the affirmative.  U V Singh, a committee member, said, “This is our third report being submitted to the NGT. The first one was given in September 2019, the second on March 31, 2020 and this is on course to be submitted by mid-February.” The NGT order on August 13, 2020, had prescribed specific tasks for the agencies.

Elaborating on the progress made by each agency, Singh said the water board’s job was to improve sewage treatment. “BWSSB has already set up four out of six Sewage Treatment Plants required by it. The ones at Sarakki Lake (which can treat 5 Million Litres of Sewage Per Day), Hulimavu Lake (10 MLD), Chikka Begur Lake (5 MLD) and Agara Lake (30 MLD) have been completed. The biggest STP, 150 MLD at KC Valley, would be in place by March,” he said.

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board had completed setting up an Online Monitoring System which would keep track of the quality of water discharged by the lakes, Singh said. “BDA has begun its job of desilting the lakes. It is in progress and it is a tough task. The BBMP has to survey Rajakaluves for buffer zones extending to 50 metres, 25 metres and 15 metres and remove encroachments in its vicinity.  It has been asked to access maps for comparison as well as satellite imagery through Remote Satellite Agency for accuracy,” he added.

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