Indiscriminate dumping of debris shrinks Pattandur Agrahara lake

The residents of Whitefield are used to the screeching sound of earthmovers and trucks dumping debris into Pattandur Agrahara lake in the night.

They, however, were disturbed to see over 50 truck loads of mud and debris dumped into the water body on Wednesday morning.

Indiscriminate dumping of construction debris and garbage has shrunk the lake to a great extent.

It (dumping) is a well-planned and an organised activity carried out after midnight, says Kumar, a resident.

When asked if a private builder was behind the dumping of debris and construction waste, he said, “We do not know who is behind it. Involvement of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials is not ruled out. They keep dumping debris into the lake at late in the night.”

The authorities have not conducted any survey of the lake since 2010 and nobody really knows the extent of encroachment on the waterbody. Corporator S Muniswamy said, “The survey of the lake has not been undertaken for a long time. We have requested the Palike to erect a fence around the lake and take up development works. The land next to the lake belongs to Bengaluru Development Minister K J George and hence there is no control or regulation on the use (or misuse) of the water body.”

The corporator said that he has received several complaints of dumping of debris and garbage into the lake and that steps would be taken to
deploy Prahari teams to ensure no harm is caused to the lake.

He warned of launching a protest if the urgent measures are not taken to conduct a survey and take up development works of the lake.

DH News Service