Thousands of dead fish were found floating on Bengaluru’s famous Ulsoor lake on Monday morning, setting alarm bells ringing over growing pollution level in the lake.
According to V Purushottam, the president of Ulsoor Welfare Society, the rising level of pollution in the lake was responsible for the death of fish because a check dam preventing the sewage water from flowing into the lake broke two years back.
“All the sewage from up-Bengaluru and eastern Bengaluru flows into this drain and then to Ulsoor lake. The oxygen level has depleted as a result of which fish have died,” he added.
Ulsoor lake, which is a popular boating site, had for many years been choked with water hyacinth.
“We brought this to the notice of the authorities. All the newspapers reported the impending disaster but nothing has been done,” Purushottam claimed.
The Bruhut Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been struggling to clean up the lake, which is so polluted that it stinks from a distance.
Residents living in and around the lake were in for a shock as they found the fish heaped around the banks, raising unbearable stink in the water body.
The incident underlines the growing concern about polluted lakes in the city, exemplified by the thick froth and flames from the Yamlur lake that caused ripples last year. Encroachment is another menace that is threatening the existence of lakes in the city.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in Delhi that he had held two meetings on Monday to discuss the Bengaluru shocker, adding, “officials have given me details on what they are doing to improve the situation.” The minister said, “The lakes’ system in Bengaluru has been destroyed for the past few decades, colonies discharge their effluent in the lakes and that is why they are in such condition.”
Mamata Saravanan, a corporator of Ulsoor lake area, said the lake has been polluted and efforts are underway to clean it.
Vaman Acharya, the former chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, said, “It is the responsibility of the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board), which handles Bengaluru’s sewage and the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike), which owns the lake, to set up a sewage treatment plant in the area,” he said, adding that he had tried to increase oxygen levels in the lake by releasing aiding bacterial cultures.
Ulsoor lake, which spreads across an area of 108 acres and has two islands, is one of the major lakes in Bengaluru. Although it is popular among joggers and walkers, the lake is also notoriously known for being polluted with garbage, despite the entire lake being fenced.
