Army offers to save Bellandur lake

DHNS

Bengaluru, 02 Jun 2016: While the state government and civic agencies are struggling to revive Bellandur Lake, the armed forces have come forward to revive and maintain it. 

 

Speaking to DH, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department) Mahendra Jain said the proposal was discussed during an inspection with defence personnel on Wednesday. 

 

They have offered to revive the lake, clean it, maintain and use it for training, all this while ensuring that there is no encroachment, though the ownership of the lake will rest with the government. 

 

Jain said the proposal sounded good as most of the lakes were a mess, but parts abutting defence areas near HAL and Agrahara were clean and well maintained.

 

But the government will have to stop entry of sewage, especially from Koramanagala which releases 100MLD of sewage into the lake. For this, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has been asked to hand over 45 acres of land to the government for installing a sewage treatment plant (STP). 

 

Sewage enters the lake from 17 inlet points and apartments in the vicinity have been directed to install STPs and maintain them.

 

They will have to ensure that no untreated waste enters the lake.  The defence personnel have been asked to submit a detailed proposal to the government after which a final decision will be taken. 

 

The idea came up when a committee of experts headed by Jain were riding on Madras Engineer Group (MEG) boats while inspecting the lake on Wednesday.  

 

The boats stopped five times as the motors got entangled in plastic, garbage and gunny bags. Each time the motors went off, somebody had to dive into the lake to clear the rotors. 

 

The members seemed keen on the idea as MEG is already maintaining a part of Ulsoor Lake. Also, the project would bring down the maintenance cost for the government.

 

Bellandur lake, Bengaluru’s biggest water body, made headlines after pollution led to massive frothing.