JOIN USThe murky Bellandur lake saga has reached a climax with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issuing a series of orders on Wednesday, including asking the authorities to take steps for “immediate and complete shutdown of all industries” around the lake.
The Tribunal directed the state government to set up a committee of senior officials of the BBMP, the BDA, the Lake Development Authority and the Urban Development Department to conduct joint inspection of industries and certify that the effluents are within permissible limits, before allowing them to reopen. The government has also been asked to undertake cleaning of the lake, block all sewage water and remove silt within a month. The NGT has warned officials of initiating contempt proceedings if they flout its orders.
The Tribunal’s frustration and irritation with the Karnataka government is understandable because the officials have not only been lackadaisical about dealing with the high level of pollution of the lake, but have also seemed to question its powers. Calling the Tribunal a ‘quasi-judicial body,’ they went on to issue circulars assuring the builders of exempting projects which had received plan approvals before the ruling from buffer zone restrictions.After being pulled up by the Tribunal, which has powers of a civil court, the officials not only apologised but withdrew the circulars. Considering the apathetic attitude of the state government in showing no urgency to deal with the crisis, the NGT had no option but to come hard on it. The bench’s order to the authorities to ensure that no untreated sewage enters the lake and its direction to impose a fine of Rs 5 lakh on anyone found dumping waste in and around the lake are especially welcome and long overdue.
There are said to be 585 small and medium industries in the vicinity of the Bellandur lake and since the objective is to target only the polluting ones, the tribunal should, in all fairness, modify its order on closing down “all” industries. Those dealing with dyes, paints and leather will obviously have to go, while others releasing effluents will have to set up treatment plants (STPs) to make sure that they are harmless. There has to be more clarity on the sewage flowing from the apartment buildings.
Instead of asking individual apartment complexes to install their own STPs, which may not be practical, the BWSSB should be directed to put up one large STP to deal with sewage from different sources. The onus will be on the BWSSB to stop the flow of sewage from nearby localities as well. The NGT’s latest order, revising the buffer zone from 30 metres to 75 metres, may face practical difficulties, too.