The problem of Bellandur lake in Bangalore started 5 years back. The previous Congress government for the entire term kept escaping from their duties despite hundreds of warning. The first indication of the pollution levels in Bellandur lake came when the lake started to froth immensely and ultimately caught fire for the first time in 2015.
But the issue was buried by Siddaramaiah government and he sent a bunch of municipality workers to clean the lake. This was the level of concern he showed towards cleaning the lake. Later the lake caught fire more than 12 times and started emitting poisonous gases and smoke causing unbearable condition in the place. But not once did the Siddaramaiah government cared to take stringent action against the industries which were letting harmful chemicals into the river.
The court later appointed a commission to submit a report on the toxicity levels in Bellandur lake. The commission which submitted the report today, revealed shocking details saying that there was no 1 mL of clean water in the river.
The committee has lambasted the authorities saying “Apparently, the biggest lake of the beautiful city of Bengaluru by sheer callousness and indifference of the authorities has become the largest septic tank of the city.” “The condition of Varthur Lake is no better — in fact, worse than Bellandur Lake in almost every aspect from fire to froth and from sewage to stink. Varthur is an aggravated calamity by the sheer volume of filth that is dumped in it without any ecological sensitivity.”
The report also highlighted the illegal road construction by the minor irrigation department on Varthur Lake. It also brought to NGT’s notice that just before the commission’s visit to Bellandur and Varthur, encroachers were evicted from the buffer zones. But now, after the commission’s visit, 100 families have come back and construction is in full swing with support from local goons, politicians and officials. These sheds are in the lake bed (buffer zone of the lake) and carry out illegal waste processing.(Deccan Herald Report).
So, this is a clear case of political negligence to facilitate illegal constructions which mostly belong to politicians. K J George who was the Minister for Bengaluru Development and Planning in the previous Congress government, now holds Ministry for Large & Medium Scale Industries where these issue come under his ambit. The industries which are on the bank of Bellandur river are also one of the main reasons why the untreated chemicals are being released in to the lake. But this man has till now not taken a single step to curb the nuisance of lake pollution.
Not to forget this is the same K J George who is accused of controlling many lands, sand and forest mafia in Karnataka and Kerala. This man was also accused of abetting the suicide of the Police officer MK Ganapathy 2 years back when his government was in power. But the police which was in the control of Siddaramaiah took no action and cleared him of all allegations. News 18 Report
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