‘Need Rs. 1,000 crore for STPs’

May 22, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:31 am IST - Bengaluru:

If the reasoning of the BWSSB is anything to go by, it may take a long time for Belandur and Varthur lakes to be free of sewage.

Summoned before the Upalokayukta Santosh B. Adi on Thursday over pollution of the two lakes, BWSSB Chief Engineer T. Venkatraju said of the 17 inlets into Belandur – which leads further to Varthur lake – 10 carry untreated sewage.

“Nearly Rs. 800 to 1,000 crore is needed to set up Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) at these inlets,” he told the Upalokayukta. Further, he painted a grim picture of the area — surrounding villages remain out of the underground sewage network while more than 500 industries upstream dump chemicals that ultimately find their way into the lakes and cause foam to envelop the water bodies.

Deputy Commissioner V. Shankar said action will be initiated against encroachers within two weeks. He told the Upalokayukta that seven surveyors had been deputed to demarcate the boundaries of the lakes. The survey, he assured Mr. Adi, will be completed “in one week or 15 days”.

Similarly, BDA officials, who have partially fenced the area, said the work will be completed after the Revenue Department finishes their survey. Having been informed by activists that the lakes and wetlands can be developed into a tourist spot, Mr. Adi convened a meeting with the Tourist Department, researchers, activists and civic authorities on June 4.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.