After a long, rather unsuccessful tussle to have a pipeline through Varthur lake stopped, residents around the severely-polluted lake have found that the Minor Irrigation Department is now drawing electrical wires through the lake bed.
Lake warden Jagadish Reddy, who is also a member of Varthur Rising, said a contractor hired by the department, which is executing the project to pump treated water from Koramanagala-Chalghatta valley to tanks in Kolar, has been dumping soil in the lake near Turubarahalli.
“Villagers and residents questioned the contractor for dumping soil in the lake. With the contractors having dumped mud to lay the pipelines, the erection of high tension transmission lines will see a deep foundation of concrete being laid in the lake bed. These will shrink the lake area and affect the inflow of water (from Bellandur) towards Varthur lake,” he said.
The intervention of the residents saw work being halted temporarily. The waste weir of the beleaguered lake was breached twice over the past year while sewage continues to flow unabated.
M. Ravindrappa, Chief Engineer (Bengaluru), Minor Irrigation Department, said a team of engineers would be sent to the spot to address the complaints of the residents. “There is no violation and it is only the drawing of electrical lines to the pump station at the nearby Sewage Treatment Plant. However, as there have been complaints, we will send engineers to the spot,” he said.
The project was at the finishing stages, he said, and within two months, nearly 400 million litres of water from STPs of BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) will be pumped to Narsapura lake in Kolar.
