Fire at Bellandur lake

Team Udayavani, Feb 2, 2018, 3:39 PM IST

Bengaluru: Bellandur lake caught fire again on Thursday afternoon.

Residents living in the neighbourhood alerted the officials of spotting fire in the lake again.

“The lake seems to have caught fire at the same location as the last time. We immediately called the fire department and the Bangalore Development Authority,” said Shonali Singh, who lives nearby.

The fire department immediately sent two fire tenders along with a boat. The fire was brought under control and extinguished around 7 pm.

On January 19, fire at the lake close to the perimeter of the Iblur firing range, was put out with the efforts of more than 5,000 Army personnel and firefighting equipment of ASC College and Centre, along with the Fire Department

The incident had resulted in massive public outrage

Spread over 1,000 acres near the infotech hub, the lake is highly contaminated, receiving 60 per cent of the sewage generated in the city

The lake is in a bad shape despite the National Green Tribunal pulling up the government and its various agencies for failing to prevent pollution and not doing enough to restore the lake

The Bellandur lake had caught fire in May 2015 and August 2016 as well. In 2015, the lake had turned into a frothy, foam-filled water body due to the high concentration of pollutants in the water

Foam from the lake spilling onto the roads and surrounding areas has become common when the city receives heavy rain

The nearby Varthur lake was also in national focus when it had caught fire in May, 2017 after some garbage was set ablaze.