Officials polluted Bellandur Lake

Officials polluted Bellandur Lake
IISc-LDA Probe Says BWSSB Responsible For Mess
The Times of India

Bangalore: The magnitude of Bellandur Lake pollution is actually not as alarming as the reasons for it. An ‘illconceived’ project ensured that the efforts to clean up the lake went down the drain. While the cleaning up work took off in 2003, BWSSB, according to the Lake Development Authority, kept throwing the untreated sewage into the lake as the Koramangala and Challaghatta valley sewage treatment plant has a capacity to treat just 20 million litres per day (MLD) while the inflow into the valley is 384 MLD.

This resulted in Rs 1.82 cr already spent on clean-up operations go waste. And this realisation dawned on the Lake Development Authority only in 2005. So much so that the project itself was abandoned in November. This is what the IISc and Lake Development Authority investigations revealed.

As if the lake is not polluted enough, BMP contractors contribute to the filth by dumping garbage into the lake, according to sources in the Karnataka Pollution Control Board.

More mess followed. The state has landed in a contractual dispute — almost Rs 1.4 crore worth of bioproducts are in the godown unused — but they too have a short life after which they will become waste products.

Going back in time, in Jan. 2003, the Ministry of Environment and Forests okayed state’s proposal to restore the 200-year-old Bellandur lake through microbiological agents at a cost of Rs 5.542 crore. The state government called for tenders and an agency Alreff de Tox Incineration Limited from Mumbai was awarded the contract.

After the Lake Development Authority realised that the water quality was not improving, it sought advice from the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science. The report stated that the entire project was “ill-conceived.’’

The IISc report states as one of the main reasons: “There is no attempt made to separate storm water and sewage in the current system.’’

Speaking to The Times of India, Lake Development Authority chief executive officer B K Singh said, “After the Authority realised that there was enormous flow of untreated sewage into the lake, deweeding was stopped in March 2005 and the project totally abandoned later in November.’’

The BWSSB has commissioned an additional treatment plant with a capacity of 55 MLD. “Refurbishment for the 163 MLD treatment plant has been going on for approximately two years now. We started trial runs from December 15,’’ BWSSB official stated.

Even then a gap of 195 MLD remains between the inflow and the capacity.
In short, the 10 villages around the lake have to live with this mess.

Clean sweep
What is the bio-remidial technique?
Adopted at the Powai lake in Mumbai, bio-remidial technique involves three processes. They will be effective only if sewage is arrested. Deweeding the entire tank/lake bed Oxygenisation of the lake to improve the dissolved oxygen level. Biological treatment for sludge, introduction of bioproduct, substrate and enzymes.