Bengaluru DC steps in to revive Chandapura Lake

BENGALURU, Karnataka:  K Srinivas, Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru City, aiming to preserve Chandapura Lake from pollution, told that four urban local bodies (ULBs) Jigani, Hebbagodi City Municipal Council (CMC), Chandapura Town Municipal Council (TMC) and Bommasandra TMC will establish solid waste management plants which will start working by the end of 2023.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) took suo moto cognizance of the report of The Indian Express titled, ‘Lakes of Bengaluru: Industrial effluents, Raw sewage; stinky tale of Chandapura lake’, published in 2021.

Later the tribunal constituted a seven-member joint committee comprising representatives of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), National Wetland Authority, State Wetland Authority and District Magistrate of Bengaluru. The joint committee will look into the complaints regarding violation of the buffer zone and solid waste management guidelines at Chandapura lake in the Anekal Taluk.

As per the action plan outlined by the district administration for the conservation and restoration of Chandapura lake, a detailed project report (DPR) for the construction of an underground drainage system has been submitted to the state government for approval. The estimated cost of the entire project stands at Rs 262 crores. Additionally, 21 other lakes in Jigani, Hebbagodi (CMC), Chandapura and Bommasandra TMC will be preserved with the help of CSR funds pooled by private entities.  

The joint committee constituted by NGT highlighted that the upstream lakes connected to the Chandapura lake are polluted, which is contaminating the lake. The committee also found that the municipal waste from the area is being dumped in the lake as there is no common sewage treatment plant (STP) to treat the sewage waste.

Apart from this, in September, a water quality analysis report was prepared by the KSPCB, which found that none of the lakes in Bengaluru has water that is fit enough to drink without any treatment. The main problem behind the contamination of these water bodies was, again, the dumping of untreated sewage waste and industrial effluents.

In this report, KSPCB examined 105 lakes in the city of Bengaluru and classified them into Class A, B, C and D categories based on the water quality in these lakes. The Class A water bodies contain drinkable water, and water from Class B lakes could be used for outdoor bathing. Water from Class D lakes could be used for fisheries and wildlife and class E water for irrigation purposes.

However, none of the lakes could make it into group A, B, and C categories, while there were 65 lakes in Class D and 36 in Class E, and it was not possible to take water from four water bodies as they do not have enough water.