Activists refute BBMP claim on work to restore Kembathalli Lake

Applicants gave a point-to-point rebuttal and prayed for the court’s intervention in removing the encroachments and restoring the original extent of the lake.

Bengaluru: Activists fighting to save Kembathalli Lake in Gottigere have disputed the misinformation provided by the BBMP that the inflow of sewage into the lake has been stopped.

Replying to the submission by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) before the National Green Tribunal, applicants Vilasini Ramkumar and others gave a point-to-point rebuttal and prayed for the court’s intervention in removing the encroachments and restoring the original extent of the lake.

While the BBMP stated that the work to build diversion channels for the sewage has been completed, the activists submitted a photograph of the sewage entering the lake through inlets as well as the dumping of the garbage in the vicinity of the water body.

They further noted that the BBMP has not provided a time frame for the removal of encroachments in the lake. Authorities have ignored the encroachments of the lake at many places by government and private parties, including a burial ground, they said.

Stating that officials have turned a blind eye to the construction activities in the buffer zone of the lake, the activists noted, “The BBMP officials are duty-bound to conduct inspection of construction activities and take action. But they have chosen not to take any action even after complaints. Unlike lake boundaries, the buffer zone is not marked and secured by fence and that helps the violators,” they said.

The petition also spoke about the violation of norms in the construction and maintenance of the storm water drains as well as the unscientific lake rejuvenation work.

“The lake rejuvenation project has made the wastewater weir too low. In this torrential rain too, the lake is not even half full, leading to less than 50% utilisation of lake capacity,” it said.