Another Bellandur lake in the making?

Waste from north Bengaluru churns at the outlet of Maragondanahalli Lake, more commonly known as Ramapura lake, and the murky waters spew froth.

At the outlet, barely a few metres from Avalahalli Main Road, the water cascades, froths, and carries the froth in its serpentine path around a cemetery. Venkatesh, a resident of Ramapura, says it has been a decade since the frothing started, and over the years the volume has grown and grown. “When it rains, we can’t even see the drain. There is a weak fence around, but the froth comes on to the road. The smell is unbearable,” he says.

With groundwater levels depleting, farmers in the area end up pumping water from close to the drain. The circle is seemingly complete as the vegetables grown here eventually end up in markets of north and east Bengaluru.

G. Vidyasagar, CEO of the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA), says he had “warned” civic bodies that if something is not done, Kalkere-Ramapura would become the next Bellandur. A report was sent to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) nearly two months ago, and KLCDA officials will visit the area in the coming months to verify if any action has been taken, he says.

However, he adds that little can be done until the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewarage Board completes the ambitious project of constructing sewage treatment plants to treat nearly 1,450 million litres of waste daily. “They have set December 2019 as the deadline. Even if 80 per cent of the sewage is treated, there could be hope still for the lakes,” he says.