Highlights:
- Work inside the deadline at Bellandur Lake is impossible
- The problem is the lack of government willpower
- Quarry did not get a proposal for filling silt
- Pollution Control Board which does not have clear guidelines
Bangalore:No clear agenda has yet been prepared for dredging under the Bellandur Lake Recovery Project. This has created a deadline for NGT’s deadline to be dumped by December.
Bellandur Lake is a mini reservoir with an area of ​​930 acres. Excavating the underlying sludge is an exciting job. The expert advice to remove toxic sludge for decades has not been followed. Nana committees have not taken into account the factors. The NTG is responsible for creating and maintaining a lake monitoring committee headed by Justice Santosh Hegde. Even the BDA, which is responsible for dredging, has not set a deadline. Thus, three years of dredging remains on file.
What’s the problem ?:
There is a proposal to remove 63 lakh cubic meters of silt from the lake. The silt, which is currently covered by a 70-acre area with a depth of one meter, is piled on a lake. It has to be transported to the quarry. For this purpose, the city sheriff’s department has identified five quarries outside. Among these were letters dealing with the transfer of Vittasandra and Mailasandra Quarry. The BBMP has been assigned the task of chemical treatment and installation of a fence so that the quarry does not have any problem in the near future. This work is not yet completed. The State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has to specify how and where to treat the sludge. The entire work is derailed at the beginning as there is no clear roadmap from this organization.
The city can collect all the water it needs from rainfall in Bangalore
Carriage Challenge:
The quarry, which is marked for pouring sludge, is 20-25 km from the lake. There is a distance. The road leading to the quarry is narrow using the lake. Large tippers are not easily accessible, so traffic is only allowed at night. In this case, a dust-filled tipper must return to the quarry and return at least 2 hours. It is possible to go up to four times a day with 100 tippers. Two years may be required for continuous dredging. The objection has been heard that NGT has not been convinced of this fact.
NGT Target for State Govt
Foam troubleshooting
The problem of foam filling the lake with industrial waste water. The BDA alleviated that problem after a separate canal was built to drain waste water near Lake Kodi. The government has failed to adequately manage the subsequent works.
2000 crore revenue from lake brick , IISC expert report not available
Consent not found for brick making
IISC experts had proposed the preparation of manure and brick from the sludge. This has not yet been approved by the NGT. Interested companies have not come forward to either of these proposals. KSPCB has not made a decision on the amount of poison in the sludge and whether or not it should be used. Other suggestions made by experts have come to light.
Bellandur Lake
The committee is in charge of the restoration work of the lake. The dredging affair has led to a meeting with various organizations and the responsibility for the BDA. The next action will be taken by informing the NGT of the facts in December.
– Mr. Santosh Hegde, Head, NGT Steering Committee
Dredging in the lake is a bit of a chore. The transfer of quarries would have to be done by the district administration. Since the transit problem is a big challenge, there is the thought of using a little silt to raise the lake as a biodiversity hotspot.
– Dr. H.R.Shantaramanna, BDA Engineer Member
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