Village lake near Ballari filled with carbon dust

BALLARI: Despite several efforts from the state government, over 23,000 villagers in Kudatini near Ballari don’t have access to drinking water. The village’s only artificial lake, sole source of drinking water, is filled with hazardous effluents from nearby industries.
Though the state government built the lake and hired three borewells to supply water to the lake, major industries in the area have made the water unfit for drinking.Villagers are also suffering from several contagious diseases due to the contaminated water. According to experts, industries near Kudatini do not operate their EPS system (recovery and recycling of expanded polystyrene products). As a result, carbon and other chemicals are settling in lake water.
The government is yet to crackdown on polluting industries despite the villagers approaching the pollution control board.