Waste weir near Varthur lake breaches, water flowing out

The waste weir near the lake in Varthur has breached, leading to draining of the water from the lake.

According to officials from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), the breach, which occurred two weeks ago, was caused due to heavy and incessant rain over the past few weeks.

“Water pressure increased due to heavy and continuous rain,” said P N Nayak, engineer member, BDA.

He added that the bund and other structures near the lake are around 40 years old and the rain aggravated the situation.

Villagers, however, suspect it was the handiwork of officials of the minor irrigation department.

“Villagers believe the breach will help the irrigation department since water can now flow towards the pipelines laid for the Kolar water project,” said Jagadish Reddy Nagappa, a designated lake warden.

He added that the water has receded to around 25% near the village and is flowing downstream. The villagers are worried since they use this water for their crops.

Nayak said this will not affect farmers. The flow is still continuing, he added.

He added that work to restore the weir will start from Monday.Jagdish, however, said that by the time work begins, water would have drained out of the lake. He also said that he has been sending complaints with photos of the breached weir to BDA authorities for the past 15 days but no action has been taken.

DH News Service