Officials given a month to revive lakes in Anekal

Officials in Anekal taluk came under censure from Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner V Shankar and environmentalists appointed by the High Court of Karnataka for their failure to take steps to revive 230 dying lakes.

The High Court, hearing a petition by Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, on February 9, 2015, had ordered government bodies to prevent and stop the illegal extraction of sand, mud and clay from lakebeds, besides stopping inflow of sewage and industrial pollutants into lakes.

Accordingly, a committee comprising Shankar, senior environmental engineers from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the director of Department of Mines and Geology, a senior engineer from minor irrigation department, the heads of revenue and police departments, the Zilla Panchayat head, the petitioner, environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy and Chairperson, Department of Environmental Sciences at Bangalore University, Dr Nandini N, met for the first time on Wednesday. KSPCB, revenue, police, zilla panchayat, minor irrigation, mines and geology officials were in the line of fire.

“It has been over a month since the High Court gave the order, but nothing has been done so far. We have given the officials a month’s time to check illegal sand and soil mining, clay extraction, encroachment, and inflow of sewage, hazardous and industrial effluents into the lakes,” a committee member told Deccan Herald.

The member continued: “If officials fail to take action in a month, then a petition will be filed in the High Court to take action against them. We will request the court to suspend the officials as they draw fat salaries but do not do their assigned work. We are forced to take the stern step because the reasons given by the officials are unacceptable. They cite lack of inter-departmental co-ordination and police support, threats from local people, shortage of funds and staff and ignorance about the subject for not taking action.”

The committee members pointed out that the lakes had lost their identity and become dumping yards. The quality and quantity of ground water have been affected. Unscrupulous elements were taking advantage of the situation and exploiting the sand and clay for brick making. Water of some of the remaining lakes is highly polluted and unfit for any usage. But it is still being used in cultivation of fruits and vegetables which are sold in Bengaluru, they added.