A fire was reported from the Bellandur lake area on Thursday afternoon. According to residents, it started around 12.30 p.m. next to the Iblur Firing Range camp of the Army Service Corps — the same spot that was engulfed by a massive fire in January.
Two fire tenders from Sarjapur fire station responded to the alert. It took the team nearly four hours to douse the flames.
The source of the fire is suspected to be waste that was burnt illegally. Members of Save Bellandur Kere spotted a plume of smoke emanating next to the lake and informed the lake marshals. “It seemed to be a major fire from the amount of smoke. We saw it subside by only around 3.30 p.m.,” said Sonali Singh, a resident of Bellandur and member of the group.
In January, a massive fire broke out the over-750-acre lake. Over 5,000 army personnel were engaged in firefighting operations after the fire started spreading towards the military camp. It took a team of army and fire personnel 12 hours to douse the flames. A similar incident was reported in February 2017 as well, which led to the National Green Tribunal taking up a suo motu case, putting pressure on the State government to formulate a plan to clean up the lake.
