An image of a frothing Bellandur lake earlier this year (File Photo) | Photo Credit: BCCL

Key Highlights The responders include BWSSB, BBMP, KPSCB, BDA and the Karnataka government NGT has directed BWSSB to complete construction of STPs by September 2020 Bengaluru has lake experts who are not consulted: NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel

Bengaluru: India's apex green court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday pulled up the officers of concerned agencies over the issue of inaction leading to failure in reviving Bengaluru's infamous 'burning' Bellandur Lake. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that it is inclined to file criminal cases against officers of the Brhut Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KPSCB).

A suo-moto case in this regard was brought before the NGT in February 2017 by a number of impleaders, including the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, a citizen-centric NGO. In a press statement issued on December 11, Namma Bengaluru claimed that the respondents have failed to abide by instructions issued to them at every single hearing of the case in the course of the last three years.

Excuses such as the lack of resources and technical setbacks cannot be used by officers who have failed to do their duty, said the bench. In his attempt at criticising the officers, Justice Goel also said that Bengaluru city has a large number of lake experts and people who are good at governing but the concerned stakeholders do not bother to seek suggestions from these people.

The NGT Chairperson also lashed out at the delay in building sewage treatment plants (STPs). He pulled up BWSSB chairman Tushar Girinath over his demand for two more years to build STPs despite Girinath telling the court that the same could be achieved in nine months' time. The construction of STPs should be built within by September 2020 to prevent sewage water from entering Bengaluru's water bodies and contributing to their deterioration. In the last three years, Bellandur and Varthur lakes have been caught on camera frothing and catching fire multiple times owing to the high amount of pollutants in them.