‘Tonnes of soil and construction debris dumped in the lake being removed at a slow pace’

Plans to rejuvenate Varthur lake, one the largest and most polluted lakes in the city, will be delayed by at least a few months.

A bathymetric survey of the lake, conducted by the Indian Institute of Science to measure the depth of a particular waterbody and map its underwater features, had initially put the silt sedimentation at an estimated 6.82 million cubic metres.

“However, after the survey was conducted in 2016–17, a pipeline was laid from the Koramangala Challaghatta Valley to Kolar. For this, 2.7 km of the Varthur lake periphery was encroached upon. The National Green Tribunal took strong objection to this. The Minor Irrigation Department, which executed the ₹13.4-crore project, has dumped thousands of tonnes of soil and construction debris,” said Jagadish Reddy from Varthur Rising, a citizens’ initiative working towards rejuvenating the lake.

He said the rejuvenation plans may be delayed, given the pace at which the department is removing the excess soil and construction debris.

“We struggled to scout for funds for rejuvenation of the 445 acres and 34 gunta lake. Bellandur, which has garnered a lot of attention, has received some funding from the government. However, the delay in removal of excess soil from Varthur lake is posing a major hurdle in the rejuvenation plans,” said Mr. Reddy, and added that the standard response from the department is that work has started. “We have not been given any time frame within which the work is likely to be completed.”

According to sources in the Bangalore Development Authority, which is the custodian of the lake, a memorandum of understanding has been signed by the authority and a mining company for rejuvenation of the lake. “The company may not be able to execute the entire project ... they will spearhead the initiative and the BDA will work with them,” sources said.

BDA Commissioner Rakesh Singh said officials of the Minor Irrigation Department had been instructed to give in writing the reason for dumping soil and construction debris, apart from setting a time frame to remove the same. “They have been directed to also mention where the soil and debris will be dumped later, so as to ensure that it does not pollute some other area,” he said. He added that the BDA would ensure that the department sticks to the time frame.