Bellandur Lake Fire

Why in news?

Bengaluru’s Bellandur Lake has caught fire for the third time.

Why the lake had caught fire?

• Factories waste and general sewage have led to extreme levels of water pollution in very few lakes that are left in the city today.
• The modern housing projects are draining their sewage into the lakes to a point where the lakes became inflammable.
• Bellandur lake, now has a toxic foam, which is caused by allowing untreated sewage water to flow into the lakes.
• The lake catches fire because of the phosphorus and oil on its surface.

Why the lake count has started to decrease?

• The terrain on which Bengaluru is situated allowed for the natural formation of lakes. These lakes, were at one time, the main sources of water for the city.
• The essential nature of lakes to life has even gave rise to development of a sacred practice called Karaga.
• The city has lost an estimated 79% of water bodies and 80% of its tree cover from the baseline year of 1973.
• As the city grew, it faced a dilemma. If the additional population was to be accommodated, it would require more land.
• If it decides to protect all its lakes, it must expand far beyond its already extensive boundaries, thereby hurting the interests of farming.
• In this context, the city chose to hurt the lake beds instead.

Why case-by-case approach won’t work?

• Several civic groups went to court against encroachments into lake beds and even had occasional successes. Like, the courts have ordered the removal of encroachments.
• But this case-by-case approach had its shortcomings.
• The debates inevitably moved from the larger issue of the role of lakes to the details of specific cases.

What did the state government do?

• Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is currently the custodian of the water body for its rejuvenation.
• But BDA feels that there is no point in restoring a lake if sewage water is not stopped entering the lake.
• Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board is in charge of diversion of sewage water, which clearly it has not been able to do.
• Meanwhile, the response of the state government too has been piecemeal.
• But without addressing the question of how many lakes a modern city could sustain, they typically will end up with policies that are considered impractical by those who see cities as engines of growth.

Source: Business Line & Financial Express