The restoration work of Bellandur lake, one of the city’s largest, will be finished by December 2024, announced newly appointed Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre on Wednesday after visiting the lake. He said that work is happening in full swing on the 14 Sewage Treatment Plants (STP), which are needed to keep the sewage water from flowing into the lake.
“The restoration work of the lake was delayed due to some practical problems, mainly the inflow of sewage water. Around 550 Minimum Liquid Discharge (MLD) sewage water comes into that lake, according to experts. The STPs are expected to solve these issues. The work is going on on the upgrade of five old STPs and the set up of nine new ones. The officials have assured that the work will be completed by December 2024,” said Mr. Khandre.
He also said that while 50 per cent of the desilting work is now complete, there is no place to dump the silt as there is severe opposition from the local residents near quarries. “There were lakhs of tonnes of silt in the lake, and while half of the silt which was removed from the lake has been shifted, the rest remains there. I have instructed the officials to make arrangements for the disposal soon,” the minister said.
Lapse in recovering fine
He pointed out that there was a lapse on the department’s side in recovering the fine from over 400 industries in the catchment area of the lake. “The industries there have not built STPs and taking up suo moto case, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has penalised them up to ₹198 crores. However, only ₹5 crore has been collected from the department so far. The reason for this would be found out and strict action will be taken against those who have failed to recover the fines,” Mr. Khandre said.
He also said that the rejuvenation of lakes is one of the prime focuses of the new government, “We have instructed the officials that all the lakes in Bengaluru which have polluted water should be examined, cleaned, desilted and rejuvenated. The lakes should be restored to their previous states where there used to be clean water.”
Strict action if STP not implemented
Mr. Khandre, who also held a progress review meeting at Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on Wednesday, said that cases had been registered against 78 local bodies over non-implementation of STPs. When asked about the confusion about the implementation of STPs in apartment complexes, he said, “In some old apartments, there is no provision for building STPs. However, in the future, if the new apartment complexes do not have STPs, then they would not be issued No Objection Certificates (NOC).”
Referring to the incident in Raichur district where a person died after ingesting polluted water, the minister issued strict warning that legal action would be taken against the supply of polluted water anywhere in the State. He also said that multiple steps will be taken to track and cut down on pollution especially in areas like e-waste recycling, used oil recycling, and disposal of hazardous waste.
