In less than three months, the Bellandur lake catches fire yet again, engulfing the area in thick smog. The polluted lake is now making it difficult for the passers-by to breathe.
In February, a mound of garbage was said to be put on fire, as the lake burst into flames for about 4 hours. On 19 April, the National Green Tribunal had directed an immediate and complete shutdown of all industries around Bengaluru's Bellandur lake discharging effluents.
Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru catches fire again, thick smoke engulfs the area pic.twitter.com/QPDyIMD6ux
— ANI (@ANI_news) 7 May 2017A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar called for a ban on dumping municipal solid waste around the lake and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh on anyone found dumping waste in or around the lake. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) had issued a notice to certain industries, slaughterhouses and so on. Overall, 93 industries had been issued a notice.
Belandur lake is on fire again @dhanyarajendran pic.twitter.com/Vi8JeH8kVK
— Chéchi Guevara (@TheRestlessQuil) 7 May 2017Among Bengaluru's 262 lakes, the Bellandur lake is the largest and reportedly receives about 40 percent of the city's sewage.