Bengaluru: Not even a month has passed since the New Year began and already Bellandur Lake caught fire, while smoke engulfed Varthur Lake on Sunday. The exact cause of the fire was not known, but it is suspected that miscreants have lit garbage piles around the lakes.
Mr Jagadish Reddy, a lake activist, said that the fire was noticed at three different spots in the lake.
Mr Reddy said, “The fire brigade was not helpful at all as they had not come prepared. Our request to call in Civil Defence or NDRF fell on deaf ears. Almost 20 acres of flora & fauna is charred. This is the breeding season for many of birds and serpents and this is a big loss to our eco-system.”
Residents of nearby apartments complained that big plumes of smoke engulfed their flats around 2.30 pm on Sunday.
In March 2017, smoke from the Varthur Lake had taken the residents by surprise. It was later found that garbage was burnt at the inlet of the lake.
Meanwhile, the BDA has set a new deadline for the completion of a waste weir at Varthur. According to sources, the development authority has further delayed the project till April due to unknown reasons.
Exactly a year ago, Bellandur Lake caught fire and the army was deployed to douse the flames.
