BENGALURU: National Green Tribunal (NGT) former member Prof TV Ramachandra and resident committees of Bellandur and Varthur carried out an inspection of the Bellandur and Varthur lakes on Monday, and agreed with the conclusions of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) that 95 per cent of Varthur lake silt and 52 per cent of Bellandur lake have been cleared, which means wetland works can begin.
BDA Assistant Executive Engineer, SS Aravind said the silt cleared from the Varthur lake was given to farmers as a subsidised rate. Movements of the trucks carrying silt were tracked on GPS. The silt from Bellandur lake is being sent to Vittasandra and Myslandra quarry pits.
Ramachandra, professor at Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, and residents asked the government agencies to start work on the wetland now.
“Before monsoon, 60 per cent of silt will be removed from Bellandur lake. Two wetlands at Bellandur and one at Varthur will be improved,” Aravind said, adding that Ramachandra has asked to clear the diversion channel but it requires a written assurance from BWSSB that no sewage will enter the lakes.
Ramachandra checked the progress of the sewage treatment plant and was disappointed with BWSSB as the parallel drain built by the civic agency to mitigate floods was carrying raw sewage. “The BWSSB promised a hundred per cent treated water at Bellandur by 2019, but it is yet to happen,” he said.
The project of carrying water from KC Valley to Anekal has resulted in BWSSB laying pipes in the middle of lake resulting in its bifurcation, he said, adding that buffer zone encroachment is still visible.
Sonali Singh, a Bellandur-Iblur resident, and a member of the team, said that despite the monsoon plight last year, good progress has been made to clear the silt from the two lakes. However, Singh flagged raw and untreated sewage in the sewage diversion channel at Bellandur.