BDA unable to dispose of Bellandur Lake silt

By Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: Bellandur Lake, which was in the limelight for toxic froth a few years ago, is once again in the news for its silt.

The dredging and transportation of silt from the water body has come to a halt as the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) is unable to find a suitable location to dump it.

BDA had earlier identified quarries at Vittasandra and Mylasandra in Bengaluru South Assembly constituency to dump the silt. Initially, they faced no issues while transporting silt to those two places.

However, a month ago the local residents and Bengaluru South MLA M Krishnappa, began opposing the dumping of silt at Mylasandra and Vittasandra.

As per the schedule, the BDA was to transport one lakh cubic metres of silt to the quarries in the last 15 days, but not a single cubic meter silt has been transported from Bellandur Lake.

Till date, only 13,26,050 cubic metres of silt out of 32,33,643 cubic metres of silt was transported to the quarries.

As of now, one lakh cubic meters of silt is stacked on the lake area and 2,00,000 cubic metre of silt can be stacked on the lake area. On the defence area nearby, around 1,00,000 cubic metres of silt is stacked and 5,00,000 cubic metres of silt can be staked there. However, the quantity of silt transported to the designated places between April 1 and 16 is zero.

“What is the use of spending a lot of money to dredge the silt if the authorities could not transport it to the quarries? Ground water is getting polluted due to the dirty water in the lake. The BDA authorities are yet to take measures to remove the silt from the lake,” said Srinivas R., a resident of Yemalur.

Demanding the BDA authorities to speed up transporting of silt from Bellandur Lake, Jagadeesh Reddy, a member of Varthur Rising, has said that more than 150 MLD of sewage is flowing into Bellandur Lake from the Central Business District. “Many farmers lost crops due to sewage overflowing from the diversion channel. I am of the opinion that BDA authorities should have supplied the silt to farmers for using it as manure for their agricultural land,” said Jagadeesh Reddy.

Meanwhile, Professor T.V. Ramachandra, one of the members of the NGT monitoring committee headed by Supreme Court retired judge Santosh Hegde, is expected to visit Varthur and Bellandur Lakes soon. “As of now, I can’t comment on it. I am visiting Varthur and Bellandur Lakes on Wednesday. I will be in a position to comment on it after visiting the water bodies,’’ said Prof Ramachandra.

However, BDA assistant executive engineer has said that dredging and transporting of silt was affected due to the protest by Mylasandra and Vittasandra villagers led by Bengaluru South MLA. “They are objecting that movement of heavy vehicles carrying silt is damaging roads. We have asphalted and upgraded the road, but in vain. I have already informed my higher authorities who assured me to hold talks with the elected representative and villagers,” said the BDA assistant executive engineer.