Bellandur Lake plays villain

Bellandur Lake plays villain
Polluted Air Inflicting Health Hazards On 10 Villages
The Times of India

Bangalore: One-year-old Tejas Changalaraju, who came from Andhra Pradesh a week ago, has huge wheel-like swellings on his legs. His skin has discoloured, and little Tejas cries the minute his mother stops softly scratching his little legs.
In the neighbourhood, 10-month-old Manjunath is suffering from asthma. Two houses away, a month-old girl is battling bronchitis. The doctors are surprised in the least.

And the villain is the polluted air. The unhygienic conditions that prevail in the 10 villages located around the Bellandur lake catchment area speak of the health hazards affecting one lakh people day in and day out.

Even the silver idols in the area turn dark within 48 hours of exposure to air. Said Kavitha K: “My two-year-old son and I face health problems every second month ever since we moved in here six months ago. My family doctor has advised us to quit this place.’’

The neighbourhood government primary schools tell the tale of havoc caused by polluted atmosphere: children keep scratching their hands, face and skin. It’s strikingly evident in the broad blue patches that envelop vessels exposed to air. Visit primary health centres in Bellandur, Challaghatta, Iblur or any other village, and you find at least halfa-dozen cases with skin and respiratory allergy every day.

“I had rashes all over my hands, legs, stomach and on the scalp too. After I consulted a skin specialist, I was asked to move out of the locality. The air that comes touches the foam and carries some chemical that affects the skin and the respiratory system,’’ said Malini Shivakumar, a resident.

In South Bangalore, an all-pervading web of asthma stretches throughout the neighbourhood, touching nearly every life menacingly. “Because of some allergen in the air, almost 50% population suffers from urticaria (skin allergy) or respiratory allergy. A huge population has turned asthmatic. On an average, we get 5-6 new cases of asthma every day,’’ said Rama Girish, in charge of the local primary health centre.

Mukta Sachdev, MD, consultant dermatologist at Manipal Hospital, said: “Urticaria (commonly called ‘hives’) is a skin allergy that can either be acute (6-8 weeks) or chronic (beyond two months). The patient suffers from red wheel-like swelling that can vary in size. It has many causes like food, infection, drugs, systemic disorder or worm infection. If a cause is not detected, it’s idiopatic urticaria. Usually, anti-histamine is prescribed; sometimes, oral steroids. If the case is severe, then steroids need to be injected.’’

Doctors working out of Bellandur area PHCs stated that of the monthly 10-12 new births in each village, at least 3-4 children develop asthmatic symptoms before they complete a month.

Lok Ayukta vigilance director (health) Dr H Sudarshan, who used to stay in the same locality, inspected the area recently to realise that not much has happened after the lake clean-up that took place a while ago. “There’s been a drastic increase in the number of skin and respiratory allergy cases. Ditto with mosquito menace. A lot of money has been spent on cleaning up the lake but untreated effluents, sewage and foam still remain. I’ve asked the locals to register a complaint with the Lok Ayukta so that we can conduct an inquiry.’’

The ministry of environment and forests had approved Karnataka’s Rs 5.5-crore proposal to restore the 200-year-old Bellandur lake through microbiological agents. Microbiological agents, capable of breaking down organic and inorganic sediments, were introduced into the lake, followed by aeration and oxygenation processes using compressors and diffusers. The process was used because it would not make the water turbid.

Red-hot areas

The affected villages around the 950-acre Bellandur lake:
Bellandur, Challaghatta, Devarabisanahalli, Iblur, Kariamnagrahara, Kempampura, Nagasandra and Yemalur.