No funds for Bellandur Lake in budget

The Bellandur Lake found no allocation in the budget as the government paid a Rs 500-crore deposit and Rs 75-crore fine based on directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The Rs 500 crore has been deposited in a specially created account to rejuvenate the lake.

Officials of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) said the government has laid the thrust on projects around the Bellandur Lake like building sewerage treatment plants and laying pipelines in the Kommaghatta and Chellaghatta Valley.

The officials are also expecting a share of funds from the Rs 1,600-crore allocation by the government for all lakes in the state.

Following the NGT’s directions, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy allocated Rs 9 crore to set up continuous water monitoring stations at the Bellandur, Agara and Varthur lakes.

The state government will also set up 17 water quality monitoring stations to check water banks in coordination with the Central Pollution Control Board.

Determined to improve the air quality in the city and across the state, he announced the establishment of ambient noise quality monitoring stations in 10 corporation areas. Besides Bengaluru, four stations will be set up per district at the cost of Rs 9 crore.

Kumaraswamy also allocated Rs 60 crore to KSPCB to develop laboratories in 21 districts.

The KSPCB has also been given the task to establish 16 sub laboratories and 10 automated flow analysers.