Apartments beware: Rs 5 lakh fine if you discharge sewage into Bellandur lake

Under pressure from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to clean up the Bellandur lake, the government is now planning to teach a lesson to the apartments that have largely contributed in killing the lake. Apartments that discharge untreated sewage to the lake will attract a penalty of Rs 5 lakh. An order to this effect will be out soon. The apartments should treat the sewage before releasing it to the lake or at least they should arrange it to get it treated at their own expense.

Bengaluru Development Authority, Additional chief secretary Mahendra Jain who reviewed the Bellandur lake revival works on Tuesday, came down heavily on the apartments for polluting the lake. He blamed apartments' untreated sewage for leaving Bellandur lake with foam that brought disgrace to the city. Added to it were, the factories that were working around the lake. The government has shut down the 89 factories (of 488) for polluting the lake.

Also Read: Karnataka admits, Bellandur Lake will not be cleaned anytime soon

About 40 per cent of sewage from the city flows to the lake which is on an average, 480 million litres of sewage flow, daily. But only, 230 million litres of sewage is being treated at the Bellandur sewage treatment plant. To prevent further damage to the lake, authorities have installed CCTVs around the lake and have appointed security personnel to prevent illegal dumping in the lake.

After being rapped by the Green Tribunal, deweeding work has been taken up on a war-footing. But unfortunately, there is no place to dump the weed. The authorities had decided to dump it at the Horticulture Department in Hoskote to help farmers to prepare compost from it. But, no farmer has come forward to take the weeds, it is learnt. With no option left, the BDA is scouting for land to dump the weed, reports Kannada Prabha. The Green Tribunal will take up the case on May 18 and the BDA is listing out the - revival measures it has initiated - to present them before the tribunal.   

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• apartments to be penalised
• untreated sewage flow to bellandur
• bangalore development authority
• BDA reviving bellandur lake