By Mrinialini Bhat
BENGALURU: Frequent fish kills and elusive avian guests are signs that degradation of Kudlu Doddakere lake has been relentless, thanks to indiscriminate burning of hazardous waste, including plastic, in its buffer zone.
Locals recently noted that toxic gases emanating from the burning of hazardous waste have now extended into the wetlands, resulting in dead fish floating in parts of the lake. Due to the fumes, migratory birds have become rare.
Rashmi Nangia, a citizen living in the vicinity of this lake, said: “The water body at one point attracted many migratory birds. I haven’t had the opportunity to witness any of them in recent times. We have been raising this issue during ward committee meetings but we have not seen a significant improvement.”
Locals raised concerns over fumes from waste-burning, resulting in increasing cases of asthma and wheezing among children and adults.
Sreeja Pillay, who lives close to the lake, said miscreants set waste on fire late at night or in the wee hours. “I have asthma and when they burn waste the soot and the smoke enter through the windows triggering health issues. Besides, all the waste being dumped should not start attracting vultures and large rodents, rendering the surroundings inhabitable.”
The 25-acre lake on Silver Country Road, which also goes by the name Hosakere or Hosa lake, was revived by BBMP in 2015-16. The buffer zone has noticeably turned into a black spot.
“The issue was brought to my notice. There was a fire inside the lake only once and home guards had called a fire tender...,” a BBMP official said. “The buffer zone was being used as a waste transfer point until a few months ago. We have written to the solid waste management wing regarding the same. Although it is no longer being used as a waste transfer point, miscreants tend to light small quantities of waste on fire.”
