Pollution control board not committed enough to save lakes: Karnataka MLA Haris

BENGALURU: Shanthinagar MLA, N.A Haris blamed KSPCB for the heavy contamination of lakes in the city. He accused the Board officials of ‘lacking commitment’ when it came to  conservation of lakes.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of ‘World Water Day’ celebrations, organized by KSPSCB in association with Lake Development Authority (LDA), Mr Haris said that the KSPCB was not doing its job properly.

He demanded, “The KSPCB does not have the commitment to save our lakes. That’s why they are in such a bad state.  There are not many lakes with sewage treatment plants (STPs) and even the STPs that are there, don’t work. Shouldn’t the authorities look into this?”

He said that many factories had sprung up around the lakes but the KSPCB had done nothing. “The Board should issue notices to those factories which are directly letting out sewage into the lake and should make efforts to urge the BWSSB to divert sanitary lines, which are entering lakes,” he said. Mr Haris further suggested that the KSPCB ensure that all the ongoing works of STPs become functional at the earliest.

Speaking on the occasion, Forest and Environment minister Ramanath Rai said that the Lake Development Authority would henceforth be addressed as ‘Sarovar Preservation Authority’ in order to strengthen the focus on lake development.

He said, “The increase in global temperature is creating a panic and many fear that the groundwater table would be dried up soon. The increasing temperature is a threat to our wildlife and in order to save our water resources, we have to save our wildlife by planting more trees. In order to solve many climate problems, we have to increase our forest coverage.”   

Noted environmentalist Nagesh Hegde, who also spoke on the occasion, stressed that just a day’s celebrations annually was not enough to conserve water. He said that the Assembly should spend at least 30 minutes discussing the methods to conserve water, but our politicians failed to do so.

Later, he stressed that human beings were greedy, selfish and disinterested in saving our environment and scientists have given up on finding solutions to climatic changes due to these characteristics of humans. Mr Hegde said March 21 was observed as International Day of Forests but despite this, ministers and officials themselves were unaware of this day.

No water shortage till May
Amid rumours and speculation that the KRS was drying up and Bengaluru would face an acute water shortage, BWSSB chairman T.M Vijay Bhaskar said that our reservoirs had enough water to meet the city’s needs till May.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of ‘World Water Day’ celebrations, organized by the BWSSB, he said, “Both the KRS and Hemavathi reservoirs, from where water is pumped to the city, have enough water storage to meet the city’s 1450 MLD demand. However, due to the frequent power cuts at pumping stations, there has been intermittent water supply in some areas.”

Later, he said that though the Board had issued a notification to make rain water harvesting compulsory, there was lukewarm response to the initiative.