After froth, an incident of fire was reported at Varthur lake after residents spotted a huge garbage dump near the inlet canal set ablaze on Tuesday morning.
The garbage pile was dumped in the feeder canal that connects Bellandur lake to Varthur, close to Thubarahalli. It is suspected that some miscreants set fire to the mound, which lead to thick smoke engulfing the area.
“This has become some sort of illegal waste processing site. Trucks dump garbage here, ragpickers sort it and leave leftovers in the canal. Owing to the rains, a heavy gush of water flows underneath the garbage,” said Jagadish Reddy from Varthur Rising, who spotted the fire on Tuesday morning.
It was these mounds of garbage that had been washed away into Varthur lake during the monsoons last year, covering the already putrid lake with a layer of trash. “The BBMP contractors have turned this spot in to a dumping site, like Mandur. There is fair bit of recycling and upcycling happening here, but discarded waste is left in the canals. We have made numerous complaints, but there has been no action by BBMP,” said Elangovan Kulandaivelu, a member of Whitefield Rising and a resident of the area.
This is perhaps the first time that garbage on Varthur lake has caught fire. In February, a massive fire broke out at Bellandur lake, while on May 7, dry grass was allegedly set on fire by miscreants. In May, the National Green Tribunal had directed the civic authority to stop solid waste dumping around Bellandur lake, and were directed to control the flow of sewage into the lake.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Joint commissioner (Health/SWM) Sarfaraz Khan said patrolling had been intensified around Bellandur and parts of Varthur. “Our officials have been on night patrol. We have to gather how this dumping took place,” he said.
Underneath the incredible volume of froth that spewed onto roads and commercial complexes near Varthur Kodi on Old Airport Road, were a series of pipes that formed the erstwhile ‘siphon’ system installed to suppress froth.
It was clear on Sunday that much of the system had been washed away. “The system was on trial and works only in dry weather. It was not designed for heavy rains,” said S.M. Ramakrishna, Chief Engineer (Waste Water Management), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
The system may be the last the city will see, for the board’s call for suggestions for more robust designs from institutions and researchers did not see any response. “We will look at more permanent options,” said the official.
There has, however, been positive response for bioremediation, which will see setting up of 500-m wetlands along storm water drains that lead into Bellandur lakes. Of the three companies that came forward, one had been chosen, and officials said a final approval was pending before works could start.
