Greens furious over garbage dumping in Bangalore lakes

Greens furious over garbage dumping in Bangalore lakes
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Bangalore Lakes have always been the easy victims of encroachments and now, facing another threat. After the contractors turned City lakes as dumping grounds for all types of debris, now they are also exploiting the lake bed by burning debris. This not only pollutes the water, but also contributes to the release of highly toxic gases and airborne particles into the atmosphere.

City Green organisations Environment Support Group and Hasiru Usiru have submitted a comprehensive report on how waste is being dumped on Madiwala lake bed every single day in the evening.

According to the report, there is critical emergency due to the pollution of the Madivala Tank, the restoration of which has only recently been completed based on large investment of grants received from the Royal Norwegian Government.

‘‘Over the past several months, dumping of waste in plastic bags on the eastern shore of the Madivala Tank has become a daily feature. At 5 pm everyday, a trailer load of the waste is brought from another location, dumped at this spot and soon after set afire. This is an illegal activity and is the kind of activity that will ensure pollution spreads rapidly and irreversibly with disastrous consequences.,’’ Rohan D’souza, Convenor, Hasiru Usiru, told this paper.

‘‘There is critical emergency due to the pollution of the Madivala Tank, the restoration of which has only recently been completed based on large investment of grants received from the Royal Norwegian Government. Over the past several months, dumping of waste in plastic bags on the eastern shore of the Madivala Tank has become a daily feature. At 5 pm everyday, a trailer load of the waste is brought from another location, dumped at this spot and soon after set afire,’’ he said.

‘‘As most of the waste dumped is plastic or non-biodegradable, the dumping and consequent burning is causing serious damage to the lake as well as to the inhabitants of the area. Many who live around the lake depend on it for their livelihood as they are engaged in fishing. The pollution caused by this dumping is therefore not only affecting their health and also of those who consume the fish,’’ D’Souza he said.

‘‘Madivala is but an instance of the ongoing and unchecked pollution of waterbodies. One can easily list out tens of tanks and other water bodies that are being systematically polluted, because of the illegal dumping of solid waste by Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) and other town councils, and also due to dumping of industrial wastes, often times in the night to be burned soon after,’’ he added.

Be that as it may, when citizens’ groups and initiatives bring a complaint against illegal activities relating to pollution of water bodies, the least that could be done is to initiate remedial and emergent action on the prima facie evidence available, and resting heavily on the Precautionary Principle. This has unfortunately not been the case.