BDA gets Rs 50 crore special fund for Bellandur Lake in state budget

For the first time the state government has allocated Rs 50 crore in the state budget for Bellandur Lake.

This has come as a welcome move to the urban development department (UDD) officials and to the members of the expert committee.

A senior UDD official told DH that though allocations have been made periodically, a special allocation in the budget has been made for the first time.

"This has been done in response to public out cry over the last two months when the lake caught fire twice. The BDA was always stating  that they lacked funds, now a special fund has been allotted to them to maintain the lake,"    the official said.

The special allocation has also been made to BDA--the custodians of the lake. The onus is now on them to clean the water body, rejuvenate it and coordinate with other agencies to ensure that the water quality is maintained.

The BDA plans to speed up the process of creating sluice gates, fencing the lake, clearing weeds, clearing the dumped weeds around the lake and also purchasing machinery to clear weeds.

Utilising these funds, the BDA also wants to deploy security around the lake to ensure that no more fire incidents occur.

Members of the expert committee and locals around the lake have welcomed the move. They echo the sentiment that the government has made a start and put a permanent end to BDA's excuses.

Some other members however opine, that there is no need for additional funds as it will fetch more contractors and engineers and hence corruption. All the departments need to do, is coordinate and ensure that the 910 acre lake is well protected collectively.