Allow inspection of Bellandur lake buffer zone, NGT tells state

The National Green Tribunal on Monday allowed representatives of the Forward Foundation, a Bengaluru-based NGO, to visit the Bellandur lake to verify if the state government was cleaning the waterbody, which was in news for spewing fire and froth.

The NGT, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, also directed the state government to allow the petitioner (Forward Foundation) to check whether it had declared buffer zone up to 75 metres around the lake.

The petitioner contended that the state has put fence around the lake making it difficult to verify whether the state implemented the green bench’s direction on protecting the lake.

Last year, the bench hearing a petition related to pollution of Bellandur lake had directed the state government to clean the lake and declare 75 metres of its surrounding as buffer zone where no construction activities should take place.