Pre-monsoon showers result in sewage entering Bengaluru lakes

Bengaluru: With just a few days of pre-monsoon showers, the lakes in the city are seeing a huge inflow of sewage. Regular visitors to the lake and volunteers opined that there is an immediate need to arrest the entry of sewage into the Storm Water Drains (SWD) since it could harm the aquatic life and the quality of water in the lakes. 

Sheelavanthakere Lake in Mahadevapura and Seegehalli Lake in KR Puram are a few of the lakes that received sewage with the first few rains the city received last week. 

“The sewage enters through the rajakaluves and we have been pointing this out. With just the pre-monsoon showers, Seegehalli started receiving sewage. There is no coordination between the BBMP SWD department and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB). Though there are diversion channels in few lakes, sewage entry continues if there are heavy rains,” said Balaji Raghotham Bali, a lake activist involved in voluntary work at close to 16 lakes around KR Puram. 

Other lakes face a similar situation. Apart from sewage, many lakes also get polluted since heavy rains flush out the mud and other residues that have accumulated in the SWDs, pointed out Raghavendra B Pachhapur of ActionAid, an NGO.

“This is mostly because the SWDs are not cleaned regularly. As a result, such problems are common during the first few heavy rains. The sludge and residues get washed into the lake. Also, neither BBMP nor BWSSB takes the responsibility of cleaning the diversion channels,” he said. 

Recently, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wrote to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) pointing out the problem and asking them to arrest sewage entry into lakes. 

“It is not in our hands to stop the entry of sewage into the SWD. The problem arises because of the lack of proper sewage network by the BWSSB. We have written numerous letters to them to address the matter,” a senior BBMP official from the lakes department said.

BWSSB Chairman Ramprasat Manohar V said that the board was looking at ways to arrest sewage. 

“We are preparing an action plan to address this. We are looking to provide a scientific and sustainable solution to address this issue and we will soon take action,” he said.