Bengaluru (Karnataka): Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday visited Bengaluru’s Bellandur lake, which had been on fire, to take stock of the situation.
“Those were in power never worked for the lake. This lake has now turned into a sewage tank,” Javadekar told ANI.
The lake caught fire yesterday and was later doused. A cooling operation was conducted today.
According to media reports, residents living on the Yemlur side of Bellandur spotted smoke in the lake, known to be full of chemical effluents and construction debris, around noon on Friday. Shortly thereafter, flames started rising.
The lake, according to the Karnataka Lake Development Authority, is the largest of the 262 lakes and accumulates about 40 per cent of the city’s sewage.
The cause of the fire is being attributed to locals burning the grassy land near the lake to get a fresh crop to feed their cattle. (ANI)