Bengaluru rains: Bellandur lake resembles a giant pool of foam yet again

Bengaluru, Sep 25: Come rains in Bengaluru and the city's Bellandur lake is in news again for toxic froth which is threatening to spill over to the streets. It is the same story every year, in fact, several times in an year that the prominent lake becomes a bane for the residents of Bellandur.

The only relief, if it can be called so, is that the foam has not yet spilled on the nearby streets as it happened on a few occasions last year.

Toxic froth in Bellandur lake

It has been raining on and off for almost three days in Bengaluru and at least nine lakes in the city are overflowing. Bellandur lake is heavily polluted due to unchecked dumping of industrial affluents and garbage. (Image courtesy - ANI/Twitter)

Bellandur lake in news for wrong reasons

Bellandur lake is one of the oldest and largest lakes in Bengaluru and has been in the news for wrong reasons because of pollutants being dumped into it. Bellandur lake is part of Varthur lake series and is one of the highly polluted lakes in Bengaluru. It has become more or less a sewage tank because of untreated sewage water entering into the lake through various inlets.

Even in April this year, toxic froth was seen in Bellandur Lake. According to reports, the foam is toxic and causes breathing difficulties, irritation on the skin, besides spreading an unbearable stench. (Image courtyesy - ANI/Twitter)

File photo of smoke bollowing from Bellandur lake

Froth is not the only problem with Bellandur lake, the residents in and around the area have also witnessed the lake catching fire.

In June, a 329-page report was submitted by committee set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to inspect the lakes in Bengaluru. Lambasting the government and civic agencies, the report described how encroachments and dumping of waste and sewage continue to haunt Bellandur Lake.

Even the NGT has taken a serious note of Bellandur lake problem

The report submitted to the NGT said, the biggest lake of Bengaluru "by sheer callousness and indifference of the authorities has become the largest septic tank of the city."

In April, the green body had reprimanded Karnataka government saying that the report submitted by the government was "incorrect and misleading" and was bereft of the actual action taken on the ground. The report also states that Bellandur Lake has caught fire 12 times since the first incident on August 12, 2016.

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