Toxic foam from Bengaluru’s Bellandur Lake has reached Kolar’s Lakshmi Sagara Lake, news agency ANI reported on Monday.
The foam spilled after water from sewage treatment plants in Bellandur was released to 126 irrigation tanks in Kolar as part of the Koramangala-Challaghatta Valley project.
The Bellandur Lake has foamed several times in the past three years, even catching fire, but the government has struggled to tamp down on the untreated sewage dumping that is said to be the cause for the froth.
Last year, the National Green Tribunal took cognizance of the issue and convened a hearing on the carcinogenic foam after frothing at the Bellandur and Varthur lakes in Bengaluru. The green panel had a few months before ordered that all industries around Bellandur Lake be shut and imposed Rs 5 lakh fine on anyone found dumping waste in and around the water body.
According to the Karnataka Lake Development Authority, the Bellandur Lake accumulates about 40% of the city’s sewage.
Bengaluru’s lakes – about 600 large and small ones – have been the casualty of the city’s rapid expansion since 2001. According to Census data, the city’s population shot up from about 6.5 million to around 9.6 million between 2001 and 2011, an increase of around 50%.
(With ANI inputs)
