Saving lakes: BBMP focusing on non-concrete drains, enforcement

BENGALURU: Storm water drains without concrete, relentless drives against encroachment, a four-layer security cover comprising CCTV cameras, LED lighting, watch towers and marshals and stiff penalties for dumping waste are the cornerstones of the BBMP strategy to protect Bellandur, Varthur and Agara lakes.
The Times of India has accessed an affidavit submitted recently by BBMP to the National Green Tribunal in this regard.The NGT recently pulled up the heads of all stakeholder agencies and asked them to submit comprehensive compliance reports. The case is coming up for hearing again on December 11.

According to its affidavit, BBMP is not concretising storm water drains that are wider than 4 metres. The absence of concrete will enable water to percolate down the ground and consequently, the ground water table will increase.
However, the civic body is mindful of what lack of concretisation could do to storm water drains on stretches where their banks are encroached. It has said that at points where the retaining walls become weak due to pressure from constructions on the sides of the drain, it is building ‘U’ shaped drains. But even these sections will have enough openings to enable recharge of ground water.
On directions from the NGT to survey Bellandur, Varthur and Agara lakes for demarcation of buffer zones and to identify encroachments, the joint director, survey settlements and survey records prepared a detailed map in co-ordination with the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre (KSRSAC). The map demarcates the lake boundaries as well as the 30-metre buffer zone from the boundaries. The map also identifies structures within the buffer zones.
BBMP has informed the NGT that acting on the Karnataka high court’s June 18 direction, its storm water drain wing has identified 2,626 encroachments along storm water drains and 1,409 of them have been cleared as on November 15.