‘Need Rs. 1,000 crore for STPs’

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.