Ready revised plan for Bellandur Lake: HC to agencies

The High Court of Karnataka told the state government on Friday to prepare a revised and comprehensive action plan to clean up the Bellandur Lake in eight weeks.

A division bench headed by Justice H G Ramesh, which summoned bureaucrats in-charge of the lake's maintenance, asked the authority to present the plan before the court.

State Urban Development Secretary Mahendra Jain and Bangalore Development Authority Commissioner Rakesh Singh appeared in the court on behalf of the government.

The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Rajya Sabha member D Kupendra Reddy and a resident of HSR Layout, asking the court's direction to the government to stop the increasing pollution in the lake.

The court pulled up the government for its apathy to the issue, chiding it for giving more preference to setting up Indira Canteens and ignoring the most important ecological issue.

It asked all government agencies like the BBMP, BWSSB, BDA and others to collaborate in creating the revised plan. It also asked them to desist from issuing multiple tenders to carry out the work, but entrust the work with a single contractor or a department. It instructed the agencies to take advice from global experts. It adjourned the hearing to September 18.