Bengaluru: Mountains of foam are choking city’s lakes. After the Varthur Lake frothed up a few days ago, another shocker hit the citizens of Bengaluru on Friday night when toxic, industrial effluents in Ammani Lake in Bellandur caught fire. The lake is entirely covered with foam on Friday night and Saturday morning.
Area residents said that one should not blame polluting industries alone as the authorities of different organisations have kept quiet for far too long as the condition of the lake steadily deteriorated.
Residents said that the fire in the lake might have been triggered by a chemical reaction between toxic effluents. Mr Mukund, a civic expert, said, “The Pollution Control Board should take the issue seriously and stop renewing licences to industries that are releasing toxic pollutants into this lake. The BBMP should make it mandatory for the industries to maintain the lake so that they can be held responsible in case of such incidents.”
Factories located in and around Bellandur and HAL areas are discharging large amounts of waste that contain chemicals and toxic materials into the lake. The lake surface has been covered with foam for sometime now. The local residents have raised the issue with the government authorities, but to no avail.
The lake was found covered with foam the next morning (Photo: DC)
Mr Ragavindra N., a resident, said, “The authorities have failed miserably in providing basic amenities to the people of the area. The lake has been filled with foam for sometime now and the fire was meant to happen someday. The authorities knew it very well, but chose to keep quiet till something drastic happened.” Mr M. Srimalu, another resident, said, “Our children have been falling sick regularly and the mosquito menace here is unbearable. We had met the authorities earlier and raised these issues, but no action was taken.”
Assistant Executive Engineer of the area, Mr K. Reddy, said, “I visited the spot around 8 am on Saturday and there was no fire." On pollution in the lake and the foam, he said, “There are many industries around, but I am not aware whether any action has been taken against them.” BBMP Commissioner Kumar Naik said, "The lake comes under the BDA and I hope that they are taking the necessary action."
Jayanagar residents fight to save Byrasandra lake
For more than 20 years the residents of RBI Colony in Jayanagar have been fighting to save Byrasandra lake from encroachment and pollution, but thanks to government apathy its condition continues to deteriorate. They are now demanding that the state government maintain the lake and fence the boundary.
The lake area has now become an open toilet and a parking lot for private vehicles, said Venkata Subba Rao, a resident fighting to save the lake. “The development of the lake is not complete, which has further deteriorated its condition. Crores of rupees have gone down the drain,” he said.
In 2013, the BDA had taken responsibility to rejuvenate the lake and even spent over Rs 4 crore. Freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy said the government should be more responsible and take over the property that rightfully belongs to them. “Every lake should have a special vigilance committee or else the money spent on maintenance will be of no use,” he said.
Spread over 14 acres, the lake was in 1988 converted into lake bed illegally. A committee under the chairmanship of retired IAS officer Lakshman Rao that inspected the lake bed had recommended that the state government should rejuvenate the lake as a water body and park.
