Bengaluru: A joint committee working towards rejuvenating lakes in the city submitted a report to the Lokayukta on Tuesday.
The committee, consisting of BBMP, BDA, KSPCB, Minor Irrigation Department and BWSSB, was formed by the Lokayukta on September 12.
The committee has till now surveyed Chikkabanawara, Mallasandragudde, Hulimavu Arekere and Horamavu Agara lakes.
The committee told the Lokayukta that further investigation and surveys need to be done, and sought six more weeks.
The lakes are situated in 110 villages that were brought under BBMP jurisdiction in 2017. But most of these villages lack proper infrastructure and don’t have proper drainage networks.
Despite these shortcomings, the Palike allows residential and commercial buildings to come up that let out untreated sewage and sullage into open drains, which empty out into lakes.
BWSSB engineers submitted to the Lokayukta that they have taken up underground drainage work in all 110 villages since March 2018 at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore and it will be completed by September 2021.
Effectively, the lakes in Bengaluru, especially those within the 110 villages, will be pollution free only by then, provided BWSSB finishes the project on time, activists said.
Suresh N.R., Convener, United Bengaluru, said, “To clean the lakes that have become large septic tanks, BWSSB should consider completing UGD works in a phased manner, ensuring that no pollutants, either sewage or sullage, enter the lakes. Meanwhile, with the help of the joint committee, the Revenue Department should identify all encroachments,
certify each one, ensure that it is encroachment free and fence them to avoid future encroachments.”
