More than a month after the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board issued notices on civic bodies over the unabated pollution of the city’s lakes, no action has been initiated, say KSPCB officials.
The notice cites the violation of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP), the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the Lake Development Authority (LDA) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for letting in untreated sewage from apartments and residences into the lake.
The notice directed each one of these authorities to undertake the cleaning up of water bodies and to prohibit buildings and residential complexes from discharging sewage into lakes.
It had also directed them to set up “vigilance squads” with powers to monitor the condition of lakes and take action to prevent pollution. “But none of the authorities have done so yet,” said a KSPCB official. In its notice, the KSPCB had also directed the authorities to stop the discharge of sewage and other pollution into the lakes within their jurisdiction, to stop the disposal of solid waste into the water bodies and to take action against polluters.
The notice was issued after the KSPCB received several public complaints about the pollution of lakes, including Arekere, Madivala and Hulimavu.
Dumping garbage and construction debris were also cited in the notice as violations of the Water Act.
