Bengaluru: Even though the NGT had rapped the city’s civic bodies and given a 30-day ultimatum to take steps to clean the polluted Bellandur lake, a fire was again reported on Sunday at the infamous lake.
The fire happened in the afternoon near Army area on Belur Nagasandra Road near BWSSB STP. The last fire was reported on February 16.
After the NGT passed the order on April 19, the residents were hopeful that incidents such as lake fire and frothing would soon be a thing of past. But the Sunday’s fire has shocked them.
Sonali Singh, member of Whitefield Rising told Deccan Chronicle, "Compared to previous fire incidents on Bellandur, Sunday's incident was not major." She however added that they could see smoke coming out of the lake from far away.
Asked on the work taken by BDA and BBMP to clean the lake, she said, "Bellandur lake is spread over 900 acres. It is a very huge area and cleaning it isn't easy."
Works are progressing and it will take time to see the result. Various equipment are being deployed to weed out the plants in the lake, Sonali added.
When Deccan Chronicle contacted BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad, he said that Sunday's fire wasn't a major one and it had nothing to do with lake pollution.
"This fire had no connection to the pollution of the lake. Fire was reported over the grass over the lake bed. It could have been due to cigarette or beedi thrown over them by those who had come to collect the grass for cattle fodder."
When queried about steps to be taken in future to prevent such incidents, Prasad said that BDA has to take a call as they are the custodians of the lake.
Past incidents
February 16: Fire had erupted on the lake and thick smoke engulfed the area. This prompted NGT to issue suo motu notices to all agencies involved in upkeep of this highly polluted lake.
The first fire incident was reported in May, 2015 and again in August, 2016
