Saving Bellandur lake shouldn't be at Varthur's cost: Whitefield Rising

Bengaluru: Bellandur lake and Varthur lake are separate, but they are a common entity. So, plans to save one should not jeopardize the other - this is what Whitefield Rising (WR) members believe.

They coordinated a meeting with the expert committee formed by the State Government to save Bellandur lake, who were on an inspection of the Varthur lake on Thursday.

The agenda was to discuss the concerns around plans for the rejuvenation of Bellandur Lake and specifically about the initiative to divert sewage from Bellandur to Varthur lake.

The Committee which came to inspect the downstream Varthur Lake included A.N. Yellappa Reddy, Environmentalist and former secretary Dept of Environment and Forest, Siddaiah, former BBMP commissioner, P.N. Naik, Member Secy BDA, Shivshankar, CE, BDA, Ramakrishna, CE, BWSSB, B.V. Satish, CE Lakes, BBMP and Chairman of the Expert Committee and Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secy, Urban Development Dept. Prof T.V. Ramachandra of IISc along with his team, Varthur Corporator Pushpa Manjunath and Sridhar Pabisetty, Chief Executive, Namma Bengaluru Foundation attended the meeting.

Members of Whitefield Rising coordinated the meeting and presented the issues and challenges facing the residents downstream of Bellandur Lake.

Whitefield Rising  said that a solution to rejuvenate Bellandur cannot be taken in isolation of Varthur Lake, and sewage diversion which could worsen the condition of the Varthur lake were the main points on the agenda.

Some of the other major issues were rampant encroachments, dumping of garbage and construction debris, fencing to protect the lake and wetland areas.