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There is a spot on the lake land where one gets a 180 degree view of the sprawling 445 acre Varthur lake. The lake is filled with water and emits a strong foul odour. The southern end of the lake is filled with snowy froth. A wire mesh is erected along a section of the road near the lake to prevent the froth from entering the road. "Till the 90s, several migratory birds from Russia, Ukraine, China used to visit Varthur Lake, which acted as food source for them before they headed to the Southern Hemisphere. Once the sewage started…

Tall fences meet the eyes before one steps into the Sarakki lake premises. Most of the lake is currently dry. One can see the tractors busy removing silt from the lake bed. Walking around the lake can be unpleasant, as there are no walking paths currently and the surface is uneven. Garbage is sprawled across a certain section of the lake, and remnants of burnt garbage is present. Green patches of wetlands in the lake area stand out in the otherwise dry lake. "Birds have already started to come back to the Sarakki lake," says Professor K S Bhat, with a…

Alighting at the BMTC bus stop at Puttenahalli, and walking a few metres ahead, one can see a huge expanse of land – the Yelahanka Puttenahalli lake. The lake is completely dry, and one can't miss three mounds of what were once islands. An open channel runs along the side, carrying sewage. One can see construction work happening - there is a complex concrete structure which looks like a huge tank with several partitions. "Since the 1980s till the early 2000s, I used to regularly pass by this lake and it was a beautiful sight," says Dr K S Sangunni, a…

Bengalureans will get a chance to showcase their love for the city this Valentines Day. The Bengaluru Civic Fest organised by IChangeMyCity (an initiative of Janaagraha) along with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be held on the 14th of February at Freedom Park from 10 am to 8 pm. The festival will be a platform where various civil society organisations and groups discuss their work, government agencies communicate their work with citizens and school children will discuss their participation with local governments. The festival will see the presence of BBMP mayor and Corporators. Sapna Kareem, coordinator, Civic Participation, Janaagraha,…

'NGT buffer zone will raze 95% of the city' National Green Tribunal's order of adherence to buffer zones for lakes and drains will see 95% of Bengaluru razed, as most buildings are in the vicinity of lakes and tertiary drains, said Uday Holla, Advocate General of Karnataka, in a written submission at the Supreme Court last week. Earlier the Supreme Court had also expressed reservations on the rights of the National Green Tribunal, a statutory body, to change the 30-metre buffer zone around lakes in Bengaluru to 75 metres. Citizen Matters had earlier written about the problem in detail. Source:…

When you heard on November 22 that effluents from an exploded boiler's sugar factory entered River Shimsha, did you hear some alarm bells too? There were some fears that the potassium-laced river waters would enter River Cauvery near Shivanasamudra, which would pollute the Bengaluru water supply network. Would they have come true? "The city's water supply would not be affected. The polluted waters would get diluted by the time it reaches the city," explained Vishwanath Srikantaiah, an expert on water-related issues. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board officials were camping on the site and sending the water samples for testing. K.L.…

NGT fines the State National Green Tribunal has slapped a fine of Rs 50 crores on the State government for failing to protect Bellandur and Varthur lakes, and has asked that Rs 500 crores be kept aside in an Escrow Account for cleaning up Bellandur lake. The tribunal has formed a committee, headed by Justice Santosh Hegde, to oversee the action plan. The Tribunal also directed that the recommendations made by the Panjwani Committee in its report (dated May 31, 2018) be carried out to ensure that no pollutant is discharged into the lakes and nalas. Source: Bangalore Mirror People…

GoK cracks down on private vehicles, 3781 buses are over 15 years old After a bus toppled and fell into the VC Nagar canal in Mandya district on November 24, the state government launched a crackdown on private vehicles. Officials are checking insurance, registration and permits, emission certificates and Fitness Certificates (FC) during the inspections. Precautionary measures are being taken to prevent future accidents as the bus submerged did not belong to any government agency and is suspected to be in poor condition. Unregulated private vehicles pose a problem to safety of passengers. Section 56 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, says…

State to fund PRR land acquisition, Cabinet discusses pending issues Several issues awaiting the cabinet's approval were finally addressed in a meeting presided over by the Chief Minister on November 19. Minister for Rural Development, Law and Parliamentary affairs, Krishna Byre Gowda, briefed the media on the important decisions taken. Among them was the nod given to execute the Peripheral Ring Road project at a cost of Rs 17,000 crore. Toll fee collection will be a revenue stream for this project. Since there were no agencies ready to fund the land acquisition due to controversies surrounding compensation to farmers, the state…

High Court pulls up Palike for not filling potholes While hearing the Public Interest Litigation filed by four Koramangala residents including Vijayan Menon in 2015, the division bench of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice S.G. Pandit issued oral directions to the Palike to complete filling 1600 potholes by the next day (September 20). The deadline was then extended to September 24 to ensure that there were no potholes on the roads, but the Palike found it difficult to accomplish the task, especially as the white-topping work was in progress. The HC appointed a commission consisting of  Dinesh Agrawal, Head of…