Garbage poses threat to Hoskote's main water source, bird habitat

Hoskote’s Dodda Amanikere lake is on death row, courtesy the municipal council of the town.

The municipal council has chosen this massive lake with a circumference of 9 km for dumping its waste.

“Dumping was going on stealthily for about a year and the authorities were in denial despite repeated complaints but today we caught the municipal council’s auto-carriers red-handed,” said Nagabhushan, a wildlife volunteer, who had been fighting to protect the lake.

Nagabhushan said dumping was going on at night due to which garbage piled up at the lake bund. The residents and wildlife volunteers of Hoskote clicked the picture of the auto-carriers dumping the waste.

“This lake has been declared an important bird habitat with 290 species being spotted here. Migratory birds from New Zealand and Siberia too visit this lake,” said Nagabhushan.

He added that Dodda Amanikere is the interflow of Dakshina Pinakini river and a prime source of drinking water in Hoskote town.

“There is a sustained effort to kill this lake by polluting it. The town will perish if the lake dries up,” Nagabhushan said.

He added that he had complained about dumping of waste to the minor irrigation department — which is the custodian of the lake — city municipal council authorities and the forest department, but no one took our complaints seriously.

When contacted, the commissioner of Hoskote CMC, Nisar Ahmed admitted that some of the tippers of the CMC were caught dumping the waste.

“I have terminated the services of the auto drivers involved in dumping the waste. It is wrong that the dumping was happening for the past one year. There is no denying that some people dumped trash there but it is not a regular affair. In 10 days, there will be no trace of garbage around the lake bund,” said Ahmed.

He said he cannot risk polluting the lake as Hoskote town is dependent on its water.