Fresh attempt to grab Bellandur lake; trucks dumping debris, fence damaged

Fresh attempts to grab Bellandur lake have come to light with truckloads of debris being dumped into the lake bed near the coconut groove in the last one week.

The land grabbers have even damaged the fence around the lake, though Bangalore Development Authority and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike claim that they have installed CCTV cameras to monitor illegal activities. Mounds of debris remain uncleared.

Locals said dumping has been going on for the past one week. “We don’t know who these people are but they brought trucks of debris and dumped it,” said a man who did not wish to be named.

The executives of Harvins Engineering, the firm which has taken up the cleaning of Bellandur lake, expressed ignorance about any such developments.

“We are working on the other side of the lake. So, we do not know what is happening near the coconut groove. We do not think the BDA has dumped it for building a walkway around the lake,” said an executive of the lake.

The BDA and the BBMP have installed CCTV cameras too but the dumping escaped their attention. When contacted, BBMP joint commissioner (solid waste management) Sarfaraz Khan said he was not aware of any such development.

“It is a huge lake. It is difficult to keep an eye on every corner of it. Last time, there were complaints about the dumping of debris. So we acted swiftly and booked those involved in dumping,” said Sarfaraz Khan.

The joint commissioner of BBMP Mahadevapura zone Dr Vasanthi was not available for comment.