Bengaluru: Bellandur lake bund widening raises dumping concerns

Bengaluru: The widening of a temporary bund, meant for transporting silt into a nearly 60-foot mud road inside Bellandur lake, has triggered alarm among residents, who allege that desilting works have morphed into large-scale dumping within the waterbody. The mud road is different from the buffer road that is coming up between Ejipura and Agara in accordance with the Revised Master Plan (RMP).

According to the Kempapura Yemalur Bellandur Institution Association (KYBIA Trust), a registered public charitable trust working on civic infrastructure and environmental protection, a temporary bund constructed to facilitate the transport of silt is now being expanded to nearly 60 feet. The group has also alleged that substantial quantities of soil, debris and construction waste are being dumped within the lakebed, effectively increasing ground levels.

In a press meet held on Friday, the Trust expressed apprehension that the bund is being strengthened in a manner that could enable its conversion into a permanent road. Such actions, the group added, would violate orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which has issued clear directions on the protection of lakes, wetlands and their buffer zones.

The Trust also challenged the BDA, which is spending hundreds of crores on the lake in the name of rejuvenation, to show evidence of where the silt has been dumped.