Days after the National Green Tribunal rapped the city’s civic agencies for their neglect of Bellandur lake, while hearing a petition following a fire in the lake, a patch of the lake caught fire on Sunday afternoon. The lake is being weeded and cleaned up after the NGT issued an order last month.
The fire started on the Belur Nagasandra side. “At first, it was a small fire with a bit of smoke; it seemed like the small fires happening regularly. Then the smoke became thick and started billowing. That was when we called the Fire Services and BBMP officials,” said Seema Sharma K., a resident of Bellandur. The fire was doused after two and a half hours, she added.
Sridhar Pabbisetty of Namma Bengaluru Foundation, petitioner before the NGT, said that considering the high concentration of heavy metals in the lake, a comprehensive study into the nature of the fire was needed. “The KSPCB should bring out a scientific report on the cause of the fire, and more importantly, what kind of elements were there in the smoke, to know its impact on people living around the lake. The lake boundary needs to be fenced,” said Mr. Pabbishetty.
Officials claimed that the fire may have been caused by grass and weeds on the edge of the lake. Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, who has been made responsible for the implementation of the NGT order on Bellandur lake, visited the lake after the fire broke out. “The grass and weeds on a small patch of area on the edge of the lake caught fire which was immediately put off. The fire may have been because of an accident,” he said.
Sarfaraz Khan, Joint Commissioner, Solid Waste Management, BBMP, suspected that farmers who harvest the weeds and grass for fodder might have set the fire. “It is a usual practice to set fire to dry grass so that new shoots come up fast. We will organise a meeting of the farmers and counsel them not to set the weeds on fire,” he said.
