Bengaluru chokes yet another lake

It is a well known fact that many lakes within city limits have already vanished, becoming garbage dumps or construction sites.
A man washes his bike at Bilwardahalli lake in Anekal. Villagers got rid of a huge pile of garbage just two days ago | VINOD KUMAR T
A man washes his bike at Bilwardahalli lake in Anekal. Villagers got rid of a huge pile of garbage just two days ago | VINOD KUMAR T

BILWARDAHALLI (ANEKAL TALUK, BENGALURU RURAL): It is a well-known fact that many lakes within city limits have already vanished, becoming garbage dumps or construction sites. The curse of urbanisation is now threatening to take over lakes outside Bengaluru as well. 

Private garbage contractors have now started dumping garbage near Bilwardahalli lake, located just a few metres outside the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits. To their advantage, the BBMP has refused to step in as it is outside their limits and the Anekal Gram Panchayat, responsible for the lake, says that it lacks the funds to dispose the tonnes of garbage which has already accumulated there. 

The end result, is a beautiful lake, slowly being destroyed, much to the horror of local residents and environmentalists. Bilwardahalli is a small village in Anekal taluk, located just a few metres away from the end of Gottigere ward, the last within BBMP limits. The village has a few thousand houses and a 
gated community. 

According to residents, just a few years back, the lake had crystal clear water, which was even considered safe to drink. The five-acre lake, is a natural waterbody that swells up during monsoon. 

However, for the past few years, the lake bed has been turned into a dumping yard. Garbage trucks enter the village illegally during the nights or in the wee hours of the morning and dump waste collected from the BBMP wards. From household waste to construction debris, the lake now plays host to it all. 

“A platform next to the lake is used to burn bodies. Whenever it rains, garbage is dumped and the cremation waste gets mixed with the lake water,” said MR Lavaraj, a resident of Bilwara Gate, a gated community. Maithili Nagarkatti, a long-time resident of a farmhouse in the village, said that the water remained potable till around seven years back. “With the garbage now, the entire place stinks, birds are dying, poultry meat waste has led to stray dogs roaming around the area,” she said. 

But residents are in no mood to concede defeat. Every Sunday, the community comes together to clean as much as they can. “This Sunday, we found chicken meat waste. We feel bad but losing hope is not an option. More people will join the effort,” said Geetha Lavaraj, a resident. 

According to Bannerghatta Gram Panchayat president Shanthakumari, they are unable to tackle the menace. “We had installed a CCTV camera which was broken. We brought this to the notice of the BBMP and the police, but in vain. We even wrote to the state government and were given assurances, but no solution,” she said. As a last ditch effort, the Panchayat is now contemplating asking those who apply for permits to fish in the lake, to take care of the garbage, instead of paying for the rights. 

BBMP Special Commissioner for Solid Waste Management D Randeep said garbage from BBMP being dumped at any arbitrary place is an offence. “If the Panchayath members or locals give us proof of vehicles dumping waste, we will take action. We will inform the RTOs to seize the vehicle and levy penalty on bulk generators who are sending waste through these vehicles,’’ he said.

Rural Development and Panchayath Raj (RDPR) minister Krishna Byre Gowda said that he had directed officials to inspect the site and submit a report for him to take action. 
 

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