BENGALURU: Lake activists are unhappy with Bengaluru East City Corporation’s work of installing trash barriers at inlets to prevent garbage from entering Seegehalli Lake.
Despite these barriers, garbage and floating materials like plastic have made their way into the water body in the last month because of heavy rain.
“The idea was to contain garbage and floating materials entering the lake. But with just a few spells of rain, the entire water body is filled with garbage. We doubt whether proper barriers have been installed,” said Balaji Ragotham, a lake activist.
Bhupradha, Executive Engineer, Lakes, Bengaluru East City Corporation (BECC), said plastic dumped upstream areas has entered the drain network and flooded the lake. As trash barriers installed are of minimum capacity, the contractor has been asked to upgrade them to higher capacity ones. “Each rain, we get at least 15 tractor loads of plastic from Seegehalli lake,” he said.
He pointed out that the only way to avoid waste and garbage from flooding the lakes is to make solid waste management effective or implement the ban on single-use plastic strictly.
“Heavy rain in the Hebbal-Nagavara Valley is enough to raise the water level of Seegehalli, which is at its bottom now. From here, water enters the major drain network and enters the 500-acre Yele Mallappa Shetty Lake,” he said. Not just now, every time it rains heavily, water from upper stream areas enters the drain network and floods water bodies, leading to pollution, he added.
Residents, walkers and activists also urged Greater Bengaluru Authority officials to take up the matter up with the Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Ltd (BSWML) to ensure plastic menace is fixed across the city, as in the coming days, more rains are expected. “If the waste issue is not addressed and officials fail to maintain the lake with frequent visits and water quality checks, the water body will be under threat,” said Balaji.
Marshals asked to fine littering public
BSWML Chief Executive Officer Karee Gowda, admitting the plastic and garbage littering menace, said marshals have been given standing instructions to impose penalties and also seize shops. “We are going full throttle against single-use plastic. Manufacturers and shops will be imposed heavy penalties, and their licenses will be cancelled,” he warned.
