Why nothing has been done to clean up Bellandur lake: NGT raps State government

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) is unhappy with the State government for not implementing its order regarding on cleaning of Bellandur Lake. The Bench expressed his anger at the fresh problems in Bellandur Lake following heavy rains on early this week and ordered the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department and Chief Executive Officer, Lake Development Authority to be present before the Tribunal on Aug 22 Tuesday, reports Kannada Prabha.

Soon after the commencement of the examination of Bellandur Lake case, registered voluntarily by the Authority, Justice Svatantra Kumar rapped the State Counsel Ashok Devaraj saying that while everybody has seen on the TV and read in papers the status of Bellandur Lake, he attempting to defend his client who cannot be defended on any account.

The State government submitted a memo regarding the steps taken to implement the orders of NGT and requested time for submitting detailed report. The State advocates said the problem was a result of heavy rains due to cloudburst. But the tribunal was not satisfied with the response by the State advocate. It said, it is not possible to say the problem is created by cloudburst. The problem is the result of blocked canals due to accumulation of garbage. Justice Svatantra Kumar questioned the advocate what action the State government had taken regarding the order issued by NGT earlier to completely clean Bellandur Lake. The advocate said that the state government has taken several steps.

Senior advocate Sajjan Poovayya representing Namma Bengaluru Foundation complained that despite the Tribunal ordering to clean the lake, the State government has failed to implement the order. The State government is giving the excuse of stay order by High Court but the HC had stayed only the proceedings of the NGT but there was no  hurdle to implement the orders. Besides the State government has not submitted a report regarding cleaning of Bellandur Lake within the stipulated time to the authority as per the instructions. The State government has not taken any action regarding the orders and is now asking for more time to submit the report, argued Poovayya.

Justice Kumar sought to know how the storm water drains were cleaned by the state government. The court also sought details from the State how much pollutants were removed from the lake and where was it disposed off. The court also wants to know whether the state government has taken any initiative to prevent fire in Bellandur lake. The Court has directed a commissioner to gather information for these details from the state government.  At this, Sajjan Poovayya said the state government has not cleaned the storm water drains at all. Taking serious note of it, the Tribunal ordered Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development and CEO and Lake Development Authority officials to appear before the tribunal and submit a detailed report of the actions taken.

Meanwhile, the residents in and around Krishnarajapur are frustrated over the foam as it has aggravated since the City received heavy rainfall. Foam flies over the 15-ft mesh put up around the lake causing inconvenience to road users. As a result, traffic is disrupted. BDA officials brought fire brigade and sprayed water on the foam from over the mesh. But it has only provided a temporary solution. The locals are greatly distressed and expressed their anger over the government's neglect.  

• bellandur lake
• national green tribunal
• karnataka