Locals accuse state of misleading NGT on Bellandur Lake issues

 Local residents have accused the state government of misleading the National Green Tribunal on the action taken to protect Bellandur Lake.

They have demanded the NGT undertake a surprise check on the ground, citing several inconsistencies in the report presented to the green panel and state Chief Secretary Ratna Prabha, which DH has accessed.

A major point of contention is the claim by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike that it posted nine home guards around the lake and placed Prahari vigilance vehicles with gangmen for night vigil.

"Why should there be fire on the lake twice if there are guards?" asked A Lokesh, a local resident. "Or why should the chief secretary ask the Bangalore Development Authority to tie-up with defence personnel for watch and ward? The NGT should do a surprise check to get the real picture."

The report - signed by BDA Commissioner Rakesh Singh on January 27 - also stated that all encroachments have been cleared, except for the one near Ambedkar Nagar. While the lake's periphery is 12.26 km, 5.20 km is covered by defence area, where no fencing is required.

The BDA had claimed that a mere 1.5-km area of the periphery needed to be fenced, which is disputed by the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) officials. "Encroachment and garbage dumping have continued in various forms,"   a KLCDA official said.

"Laying roads, undertaking civil works and placing boundaries have been happening. The fact that people throw garbage is proof enough that fencing hasn't been done properly," he added.

Shonali Singh, local resident and a member of the Citizens Watch Group, cited repeated admissions by BDA officials that they are financially constrained to post guards to secure the lake. "That's why they agreed for watch and ward with the defence department," she said.

The KLCDA chief has also said his agency would deploy security guards to protect the lake.

Shonali also questioned the government's stand on building Sewage Treatment Plants.

"While the BWSSB is seeking time till 2020 to build STPs, it is asking 99 apartments, constituting just 1% of the polluters, to install the plants by December 2018," she said.

Installing STPs may solve the existing problem, but the government does not seem to consider issues that may occur in future and take mitigating action. "This should also be brought before the NGT," she said.