Bengaluru: A day after fire was reported from one of Varthur Lake inlet allegedly set off by the illegal garbage mafia, BBMP and BDA officials have finally decided to crack the whip on the illegal garbage units in the area.
BDA Commissioner Rakesh Singh along with local officials and BBMP Mahadevpura zone Joint Commissioner Ms Vasanthi Amar raided the place along with police. All workers employed in these units have been asked to vacate immediately.
Deccan Chronicle in its report 'Not just froth, deliberate arson by garbage mafia' had highlighted the illegal garbage processing unit operating few metres away from where the fire was reported (Thubarahalli and Balagere villages).
Vasanthi told Deccan Chronicle, "After we received complaints on illegal garbage units operating on lake side, we raided the place. There are at least one thousand small families involved in this illegal garbage collection and processing. They have erected small shed and are residing in it."Most of the workers involved are from Kolkata and some are even suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals. Many do not even know that what they are doing is illegal, Ms Vasanthi said. We have asked the Tahsildar to collect information about the landowner who have provided this huge space next to lake for this illegal garbage processing. Jagadish Reddy Nagappa of the Citizen Lake Warden Committee, who discovered the fire and reported the illegal garbage units operating next to lake, welcomed the crackdown. However, he felt this wasn't enough to revive Varthur. He wanted the BBMP to rehabilitate the workers of these units.
No Bangladeshis: Police
Though residents and the members of Citizen Lake Warden Committee claim that Bangladeshi national were staying illegally near the lake, police have denied their presence.
