Save Bellandur: Since government won't, the people will

After waiting long enough and realizing that the government or the BBMP isn’t about to clean up the toxic Bellandur lake, the people of the area themselves took the trouble to consult the experts and draw up the necessary plan to clean it up. Except, when they took it to minister K.J. George, they got neither a pat on the back nor an assurance that the authorities will take it from here. Something is rotten in the state of Karnataka.

The government may not have come up with a plan to save a foaming Bellandur Lake, but people living nearby, who are bearing the brunt of the pollution caused, have.  Like other Bengalureans, who are taking the “self-help” philosophy seriously in the face of official apathy to their problems, the people here too have come up with a ‘Save Bellandur’  action plan in collaboration with Namma Bengaluru Foundation.

The plan has been drawn up after  months of study by experts and locals. The idea is to slow, if not stop the deterioration of the lake. Showing how involved they are in the welfare of the city even if the government is not, the locals presented the action plan with both short and long term measures to keep the lake healthy  to  Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning,  K J George.

The first step of the plan involves  de-watering of Bellandur lake in a controlled manner to help remove the  deposited sludge. “If the sewage is diluted enough which happens during the monsoon season, the natural systems takes over, but during the dry weather the lake suffers the most damage. So we are proposing diversion of channels to carry the contaminated water away from the lake  downstream,” explained Mr Sridhar Pabbisetty, CEO of Namma Bengaluru Foundation.

Other measures suggested are treatment of sewage before it is discharged into the lake and setting up more sewage treatment plants, besides low cost natural sewage treatment facilities. The plan suggests that the  BWSSB use  300 MLD of the treated water for tertiary purposes in non-Cauvery serviced areas and also  convert it to potable to resolve the water crisis in areas like Whitefield, Mahadevapura and Bommanhalli.

Speaking at the release of the action plan, one of the first to file a PIL on the pollution of the Bellandur lake  in  1997, Mr. Ramamurthi aptly put it when he said it was right now in  an ICU  and “needed to be sent to the ward and discharged” as quickly as possible.

Save Bellandur, it will save us
A four year long study by geologists Subash Chandra and Dr Hegde from the Department of Mines and Geology, covering the area where Bellandur Lake is located, reveals that it is capable of storing 8400 million litres of water , enough to meet the needs of  two lakh people if it is revived and not allowed to disappear on account of pollution. Stressing that the lake must  be developed as soon as possible, and all entry of sewage into it stopped, Mr Subash Chandra says it provides a real solution to the city’s water crisis.” The Ponnaiyyar river catchment is now in a crisis and this is causing a major problem for  the city. From a geological point of view what we see is a massive rock formation of about 300 feet over which there is 4000- year- old water, which is being exploited by the city  as there has been no recharge of the groundwater table.

And this exploitation has increased over the last 15 to 20 years,” he regrets, pointing out that the over exploitation has caused water scarcity in and around Sarjapura. “The only alternative is storing 8, 400 million litres of rain water in Bellandur lake, which can be used by three lakh people,” he underlines.
The geologist has authored a book with Dr Hegde titled 'Bangalore Water Resource Management, Challenges and Remedies' to provide  solutions to the growing water scarcity in the city.

We’ve got Rs 750 crore for road projects: K.J. George
On repeated questions on maintenance of roads in Bengaluru, City Development Minister K.J. George said on Wednesday, “If I could spend money from my pocket, I would have done that, like I promised earlier. But these projects need lots of funds from the government and we need to get permission and approvals, including tendering under the Transparency Act. These procedures cause delay in implementing mega projects. We already have Rs 750 crore for road construction works and tenders have been called for. But processing these tenders is taking more time.”

On garbage
On the plastic ban, Mr George said that only five items have been banned and a more extensive ban covering more articles is on its way. He said that at Mandur, waste was being dumped unscientifically and till now, around 4,000 tonnes of garbage has been dumped near the village.

“A permanent solution is to convert waste into energy, which is needed in Bengaluru. Many private companies have shown interest, but it can be implemented only after two years because of the procedures involved. “We closed Terra Firma as it was disposing of garbage unscientifically. Even on the premises of Vidhana Soudha, canteen staff was dumping garbage and now the issue has been resolved,” he said.

New rule to conserve water
“Similar to the Tamil Nadu government’s success in increasing the groundwater level by rainwater harvesting, we have planned to make sewage treatment plants compulsory for all apartment complexes with more than 20 flats. Also projects to increase the green cover in the city are on their way,” he said.

Benefits of rejuvenating Bellandur lake

• All environment issues related to the present toxicity, foam, froth and weed vegetation will be largely resolved.
• Groundwater table will improve to a large extent.
• Dry weather flow (sewage) entering Bellandur Lake from Challagatta, Koramangala, Madiwala and other points will reduce.
• The improved quality of water will reduce pollution at Bellandur Lake.
• Treated water can be used for secondary purposes in areas that have inadequate supply.
• The estimated cost of rejuvenating Bellandur Lake is Rs 400 crore with an implementation period of around 3 years.

Illegal dumping of waste in the Kariyammana Agrahara storm water drain leading to Bellandur lake.

Local tips off minister about illegal dumping of garbage
One of the local residents of the Bellandur lake area, Venkatesh,  went up to  minister K J George to complain about the illegal dumping of waste in the Kariyammana Agrahara storm water drain leading to Bellandur, which he said  had been taking place for the last week or so at around midnight. He claimed to have seen about 50 to 60 loads of garbage being dumped into the storm water drain.