Bellandur lake gasping for life

Bellandur lake gasping for life
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The Bellandur lake, a freshwater body spread over an area of 950 acres has long been suffering from the continuous disposal of sewage, dumping of construction waste and industrial pollutants.

Ema Fathima, a second year student of B Sc at Mount Carmel monitored the lake quality for 3 months as a part of her college project.

Results showed that the levels were alarmingly high of phosphate, sulphate, hardness, alkalinity and calcium. According to Fathima, the main culprit is the sewage that flows into the lake. It flows from three areas: Challaghatta Valley, Koramangala Valley and the Agaram sewage pumping station.

According to the Lake Development Authority, the Koramanagala and Challaghata Valley sewage treatment plant has a capacity to treat just 20 million litres per day (mld) whereas the inflow is 384 mld. During rainy season, water is let into the lake without being treated.

Fathima also says “the sewerage plant is run by a private company. They run the plant in the morning for a few hours and then shut down. They do this to save on electricity costs.”

BMP contractors also dump garbage into the lake. Sewage pipeline laid by BWSSB in 1978 is corroded by the industrial waste, thereby allowing the water to seep into the storm water drain.

This has contaminated the ground water making borewell water unfit for consumption. Farmers in the adjacent areas have also stopped irrigating their land as the metal toxicity levels in the soil was very high.

According to a study conducted by H Lokeshwari and GT Chandrappa, Department of Chemistry, Central College, heavy metals were found in paddy, fruit, vegetables, fodder and cow milk.

High froth formation and contaminated water have caused skin and respiratory problems in villages around the lake. Migratory birds are no longer seen here and the lake which had plentiful of fish, now has none due to high level of metal toxicity.

The Gram Panchayat of Bellandur have filed a case against the civic agencies like BDA and BWSSB, for ensuring a different source of water supply as they do not want to continue using the water from the lake.