Cyclothon, photo exhibition mark Bellandur Kere Habba

Various activities such as cyclothon, marathon, drawing and painting competition and photo exhibition marked “Bellandur Kere Habba” observed on Saturday.

The froth collected at the lake had burst into flames in February and the industries in the vicinity were issued a closure notice for discharging of effluents into the waterbody.

“The idea behind organising this festival is to bring people closer to the waterbody to revive it and save it from dying,” said Seema Sharma, a member of Bellandur Lake Citizens’ Forum.

Speaking at the event, environmentalist Dr Yellappa Reddy said that he was happy to say that the lake was recovering.  “The lake is surviving and it is on its way to recuperation. A lake development and monitoring committee should be formed by the children belonging to the ward and the ward councillors should answer the questions posed by the children,” said Reddy.

Vasanthi Amar, joint commissioner, Mahadevpura zone, BBMP, lamented that the people have forgotten significance of the lakes and dump garbage in them instead. “But effective measures have been taken to prevent damage for the lake,” Vasanthi said.

Sridhar Pabbisetty, founder, Namma Bengaluru Foundation said, “The key to saving the lake from dying lies in the hands of the people. They need to get themselves involved in the ward committees and work towards its rejuvenation.”