BWSSB set to begin treatment for sick Bellandur lake

4 STPs to treat 55 MLD of waste water will be set up

In a bid to restore Bellandur Lake, the city’s largest but highly polluted water body, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board (BWSSB) has initiated the process of constructing four sewage treatment plants (STPs) at different locations.

Touted as a panacea for the toxic foam on the 900-acre lake, these STPs would be able to treat 55 million litres a day (MLD) of waste water.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 165 crore. While the Union government would provide only 33% of the total cost under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme and the state government would contribute 20%, the board will have to bear 47% of the cost, Ramakrishna S M, chief engineer (Wastewater Management), BWSSB told Deccan Herald.

The STPs will come up in Hulimavu (10 MLD), Sarakki (5 MLD), Chikka Begur (5 MLD) and in Agara (35 MLD), all in the Southern part of Bengaluru that connects Bellandur Lake, he said. Ramakrishna also said the board would use funds from AMRUT scheme to take up restoration work of sewage pipelines.

The board’s former chairman T M Vijaya Bhaskar said it would take at least three months for civil work to begin. The board would use funds collected from pro rata charges and raise a loan from the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation for these projects, he said.

Dredging work

Earlier, researchers of Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru had advised government agencies to take up dredging work as a first step towards the lake’s rejuvenation. Prof T V Ramachandra had pointed out that a large quantity of sediment accumulated in the lake was blocking groundwater recharge. Their study had also revealed that the economic value of the silt was as high as Rs 2,000 crore.

Commissioner of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), which is the custodian of Bellandur lake, T Sham Bhatt told Deccan Herald that there is a discussion with the Bengaluru Development Minister on taking up dredging work in Bellandur Lake. “However, we do not know who will fund the cost. It’s still the initial stage”, he said.