Volunteers to clean 3 lakes after Ganesha immersion

The volunteers from Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) are gearing up to clean three lakes in East Bengaluru after Ganesha festival.

Their main focus is Ulsoor Lake — one of the biggest lakes in Bengaluru — where the Ganesha idols are immersed on a large scale after the festival.

The other lakes on their list are Kithaganur Lake and Devasandra Lake in KR Puram limits in East Bengaluru.

They want to take up the initiative on the ‘community model’, involving residents and students of the nearby areas.

With their help, the volunteers plan to clear the garbage dumped on the banks of the lakes and to ensure cleanliness is maintained thereafter.

“If we rope in the residents for cleaning the lake, and make them aware about the ill effects of polluting the lake, it creates a sense of 'ownership' among them and they will take care of the lake inherently,” said Aravindh Krishnan, the head of management at EFI.

“We will clear the plaster of Paris (PoP) bits and pieces (remains) from the lake after the immersion. We will also remove plastic materials and thermocol from the lakes and their banks. We have got all the necessary permission from the civic bodies to clean the lakes,” he added.

The volunteers plan to start their cleaning mission on Thursday and to continue it for seven days.

Recently, the EFI volunteers removed close to three tonnes of garbage from the Hebbal Lake. Several like-minded citizens continue to volunteer over weekends to clean up the lake even now.

Now they are planning to volunteer to clean lakes in South and Northeast Bengaluru.