Around 70 residents around Kaikondrahalli lake – which has remained one of the most prominent citizen lake initiatives – turned up at the HSR Layout Police Station on Saturday demanding the filing of a criminal case against a landowner for letting raw sewage into the lake. The water body had been meticulously restored around five years ago.
The anger stemmed from the refusal of the police to act on repeated complaints in this regard. On September 24, residents and a BBMP lake engineer had approached the police after the landowner assaulted civic workers employed to block the entry of sewage into the lake on September 23. Three workers had to be taken to a nearby hospital for treatment while the landowner and his associates broke the bund to enable dumping of sewage and plastic waste into the lake.
The police, however, did not register an FIR. On Saturday, residents gathered at the station demanding registration of an FIR against the landowner for injuring BBMP workers and causing damage to government property. “The sewage has caused foaming around one of the inlets of the lake. The police claim that there should be an alternative for the landowner to dump his sewage. When we told them about the assault on civic workers, the police said they will proceed only if the alleged victims come forward to lodge a complaint. They used a whole range of excuses to defer an investigation,” alleged Venkatesh M.S., a resident.
Cops call local corporator’s husband
Inspector Victor Simon of HSR Layout police said, “There is no content to the complaint. It is nonsense. We have taken appropriate action.”
Apart from asking citizens to ‘learn the law’, police officers asked the local corporator’s husband, Suresh Narayanappa, to intervene. This further angered the residents who suspect the police is under political pressure not to file a case.
Mr. Suresh said, “I was called in only to offer suggestions. There is no political interference. Action should be taken only after discussions with officials from the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority.”
