Hope floats for Arkavathy

Babu conducted an inspection of the areas along the course of the river accompanied by BWSSB officials. At Chennamaranapalya, a resident complained of foul smell that emanates from the river course.

“On a dry day, there is a bad odour here. However, the smell subsides when it rains heavily. Many animals have died after drinking water from here. We get only hard water from the borewells here,” said Lalitha, another resident of Chennamaranapalya.

A former BWSSB engineer, who accompanied the MLA, says that it is not just one government department or one agency which is responsible for the present state of the river and the reservoir. It is the result of large scale violations which were not curbed by the authorities.

“To protect the river course and TG Halli reservoir, a ‘catchment authority’ must be formed to look into all kinds of violations and protect the area. There are multiple agencies responsible for tackling pollution in the area. One single authority must be given all powers to check such violations and protect the catchment area,” he said. Some of the industries and large commercial complexes as also residential layouts should not have been formed in the first place in and around Nelamangala. The government seemed to have been sleeping all the while. It has suddenly woken up to a problem which has aggravated over the years, he added.

Recently, BWSSB and Urban Development Minister Suresh Kumar had reviewed the situation at the TG Halli reservoir and had directed the department concerned to take up rejuvenation work. The minister had directed that all encroachments along the river course be removed, so that water flows into the reservoir easily.

B N Thyagarajan, chairman of the expert committee of the BWSSB, said no industries or layouts would be allowed to come up on the river course in future and the existing ones would be cleared.