Bellandur lake: Fence won’t solve froth problem, say residents

Bengaluru: Taking the inconvenience faced by commuters into consideration, civic agencies decided to put fencing around Bellandur Lake in order to stop the froth on the polluted lake from spilling on to the road. However, residents remain upset as they say this will hardly be of any help to them when it rains heavily and it clearly does not solve the core issues.

Monil JR, a resident of Bellandur, says, “The fencing might help in keeping the froth from spilling on the road, but its effectiveness will be known only when we get heavy rains. We are scared that the froth may now get into our houses if it starts pouring heavily. We want them to divert the sewage and not just put fencing.”

Voicing a similar opinion, Anamoy R, a resident, points out, “The temporary measures taken by the authorities are not good enough. Currently, the authorities have installed about 4-6 machines near the lake to spray a chemical which the civic agency claims is part of  a Japanese Technology and helps to reduce the smell and the froth, however, it has been of little help.”

Bellandur Lake, once a beautiful green paradise has turned into a hub of toxic froth. Untreated sewage from apartments and industries has been flowing into the lake, primarily from HAL, Domlur, Koramangala and Agara. The toxic froth has been spilling on to the road, creating inconvenience to the commuters and there is an obnoxious smell emanating from the lake continuously. Residents seem to have become immune to it now. The situation has been like this for the last five years now while the authorities were just mute spectators.

The residents are demanding a sewage diversion channel in both Bellandur and Varthur Lake and BDA Minister George agreed to this during one of his visits to the lake, but there seems to have been no development since then. Residents seem to have lost all  hope and are very upset with the authorities.

MP PC Mohan, who has been working with the citizens to pressurize the government to take up the work of cleaning this lake says, “The government is yet to come up with a concrete proposal to restore the lake. In the last meeting, it was decided that STPs would be created around the lake, but to prepare a budget, funds have to be released and only then can the work begin. Due to the pressure that we have exerted on them, the state government is now at least willing to work on a plan and I have been told that the DPR will also be sent to central urban development.”

Chairperson of BWSSB Vijay Bhaskar had said that on a short-term basis they have taken up spraying so that the foam comes down. He said, “We have tried putting up a mesh, but it  has been destroyed by people or miscreants. This could have prevented the foam spilling on the road. For a long-term plan, we have prepared a Lake Development Plan for Bellandur of Rs 194 crore. This will have two results, firstly creating a diversion channel for the sewage to divert from the lake, secondly, desilting and rejuvenating the lake. As for STP, around 600 MLD sewage water is diverted into the lake, of which 282 MLD is treated. We are making provisions to treat the rest of it and place STP once government approves.”

So it looks like the residents in and around Bellandur will have to live for another five  years at least with the obnoxious smell emanating from the Bellandur lake and their struggle will continue for some time now.”

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