Lake polluted under BBMP's nose'

BENGALURU: Sadarmangala Lake in Kadugodi has bore the brunt of negligence with encroachments on the lakebed, dumping of garbage on the bund and uncontrolled flow of sewage into the waterboyd, right under the nose of civic agencies. 

The residents are angry that the tahsildar has still not completed the survey of the lake, which will allow desilting of the waterbody. “Under the pretext of development, the BBMP has further damaged the lake bund,” they charged. A fortnight ago, an earthmover entered the lake, after which the bund was found to be broken, they said.

“The authorities assigned to develop the lake are not taking their work seriously. The lakebed has turned into a garbage dump and encroachments by residential complexes are rampant,” said Mr Balachandran, a member of the Coconut Layout Residents’ Association. 

Mr Jagadish Reddy Nagappa of the Citizen Lake Warden Committee alleged that a portion of the lake’s land has been encroached by private builders. 

“Houses have been built as close as 5-10 feet from the waterbody, which is in complete violation of the NGT order,” said Mr Sandeep Anirudhan, a member of the Whitefield Raising. Different civic agencies are dragging their feet in taking up developmental activities, he said. 

After a long hiatus, the BBMP was sanctioned Rs 4.8 crore to take up development works at the lake, including laying of a sewer line which would stop industrial waste getting into the borewells. The civic authority will take one year to complete the arduous developmental work of the sprawling 60-acre lake. 

Mr Jagannath Rao, Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), BBMP lakes, said that the earthmover that entered the lake belonged to the contractor who is assigned the job of carrying out developmental works at the lake. 

“Desilting will be taken up after the survey of the lake is done. Without draining out the water no engineer can execute the work. Moreover, there is no point in holding sewage water,” he said. 

On the residents’ complaint that the water level in the lake is going down, Mr Rao said that it is necessary to flush out the water to lay the sewage lines. On encroachments, he said the BBMP will not allow any encroachments in any part of the lake.