The operation by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to de-weed the sprawling, severely-polluted Bellandur lake may not only have been futile, but may have further harmed the water body, states a three-member independent commission set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to observe the status of the cleaning up operation.
In a report submitted to the NGT on May 31, the advocates who formed the commission — Chairperson Raj Panjwani, Rahul Chaudhary and Sumeer Sodhi — expressed shock and dismay about the de-weeding operation. The commission was of the ‘unequivocal view’ that de-weeding could ‘never be completed’ in the near future. Apart from the slow pace of work, the report says: “The multiplication/growth of the weed in the lake is possibly at a much faster rate as compared to the rate at which it is being removed.”
Conducted in two phases in 2017 and 2018, BDA removed 19,822 tonnes of macrophytes (aquatic plants such as water hyacinth which choke the lake and affect biodiversity). While imagery analysed by the commission shows that coverage of macrophytes did reduce by over 20%, it has already regained its original span and now covers nearly two-thirds of the lake.
Moreover, with no government body coming forward to take the compost, it was left up to the BDA to disposal the same, which in the end, was done in an ‘unscientific’manner, says the commission which visited the lake in mid-April.
‘Pollution from unscientific work’
The BDA dug pits of around 20 feet deep in the lake. Much of this excavation was construction debris that had been strewn into the lake over the years. The same debris was used to bury macrophytes. The ‘pollution from this unscientific work’ may pose another challenge for authorities and the environment, notes the report.
The report states that plastic and other waste, which had been trapped in the macrophytes, were buried and the final result did not look like ‘compost’. “There cannot be a greater farce than the alleged removal of hyacinth and disposal of the so-called compost on which lakhs and lakhs of precious public money is being diverted,” says the report.
The commission says that deweeding should be done only with desilting. The lake’s storage capacity can be restored and only clean water should be allowed to enter, which will control the growth of macrophytes.
BDA officials refused to comment on the issue, and said it was up to the tribunal to decide on the matter during the next hearing in July.
‘Advance deadline for STPs to March 2019’
For the past few years, the deadline of 2020 was repeated by the State government for setting up of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), which would stop entry of untreated sewage into the lake. However, the commission said there was ‘no proper’ justification not to expedite completion of the STPs, particularly in the Koramangala and Challaghatta valley.
Instead, the commission has recommended to the NGT that civic bodies must ‘mobilise all available resources’ and complete the STPs by March 2019.
Furthermore, the commission has suggested that the Union government limit the amount of phosphorus in soaps and detergents to less than 2.2% of the permission phosphorous content. The froth in Bellandur and Vathur lakes, as was evident on Tuesday, is owing to the churning of phosphorus-laden waters. The commission has said that STPs should have ways to remove phosphorous and nitrogen nutrients.
Among its recommendations is for the tribunal to intervene and give approval if under-construction or uninhabited apartments built within 30-75 metres are to be occupied.
Stiffer penalties
During the inspection, the commission was informed of numerous apartments not installing STPs and discharging sewage into drains. To ensure better compliance and raise funds for rejuvenation of the lake, the commission proposed stiffer penalties.
For instance, for apartments that have not constructed STPs (293 complexes), the penalty should be raised to ₹10 lakh per month. If the STP built was of lesser capacity as compared to the one approved, the penalty should be ₹20,000 per day. The fine for malfunctioning or non-functional STPs should be ₹5 lakh.
‘Varthur is worse off’
With over 540 million litres of sewage flowing every day into Varthur lake, which has remained away from government scrutiny as the focus is on Bellandur, the commission has called the 445-acre water body ‘an aggravated calamity’.
The lake currently holds less than 28% of the 6.10 billion litres of water it held during its heydays. The rest has been filled with slush and sludge. The excessive pollution has seen more than three-fourths of the lake packed with macrophytes, leaving only 95 acres where water is visible.
“The condition of Varthur lake is no better...in fact, worse than Bellandur lake in almost every aspect from fire to froth and from sewage to stink,” notes the commission.
