SaveBellandur Action Plan. - namma bengaluru foundation

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Jan 6, 2016 - comprehensive action plan for harmonizing similar rejuvenation efforts in the upstream 49 lakes is essenti
An Initiative by Namma Bengaluru Foundation, Citizens, Experts and Activists’ to Save Bellandur, Bengaluru’s largest waterbody

FOREWORD

Bengaluru is facing a serious crisis – a crisis that’s transforming it to being an unlivable city, posing challenges of health, mobility and environment to its residents. Bengaluru, being the Silicon Valley of the East, has seen unprecedented growth over the last 4 decades. This, however, has not been matched with adequate planning and creation of capacities in vital public services and amenities required for sustainable living in the city, such as end to end Water Management, Waste Management, Health, Energy, Mobility and Habitation for Urban Poor. The killing of Bellandur Lake is an example of the rampant abuse of Namma Bengaluru. The future of our city lies in the government, citizens and civic society coming together to confront these real challenges to our city and reverse the trend of apathy, corruption and unplanned growth for the well-being of our future generations. This intensive and laborious collaborative effort of citizens, experts, elected representatives and officials anchored by Namma Bengaluru Foundation is the basis of #SaveBellandur Action Plan. We urge each of you to engage with us in this endeavor and stop not till we rejuvenate and revive Bellandurkere back to its pristine glory. This document could be the basis for the Government of Karnataka and Government of India to plan their investments to enhance water security and restore the ecological balance, thereby becoming a beacon for sustainable development of our cities.

Sridhar Pabbisetty Chief Executive Officer Namma Bengaluru Foundation www.namma-bengaluru.org

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The killing of Bellandur Lake is a sad representation of the rampant neglect and exploitation that is destroying our city, making it unlivable and pushing it to a stage of multiple crisis, like Public health and water - signs of which are already evident. Many decades of neglecting a fundamental issue of Waste treatment capacities for a growing city has rendered this once life nurturing lake into a public health and environmental catastrophe. The lake being the largest water body has a special place in Bengaluru, once also known as ‘Lake City’ with a chain of natural and manmade lake systems that supported a natural drainage system. For several decades, citizens depended on this network of waterbodies for their daily needs. Unplanned growth of the city without proper planning has brought us into this precarious situation. Huge volumes of untreated sewage flowing into the lake over a long period, inadequate treatment capacity and encroachment by developers are causes for this crisis and is being repeated elsewhere in many other lakes in the city. If we are to fix this problem, this needs to be undone and remedial measures and investments put in place in a systematic way. Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) engaged with elected representatives and officials and discovered the lack of shared vision and holistic understanding of the problem as also the lacking solutions approach. Hence, NBF worked with the locals, experts and activists over the past few months over intense deliberations and following an evidence based approach to evolve a total solutions methodology to #SaveBellandur Lake and rejuvenate it to its once pristine glory. The debate and discourse in Bengaluru tends to be only around transportation and mobility. While that is an important issue, the environmental and public health damages caused by lack of investments in Waste Management is more permanent and impacts both public health and environment. The lack of investments by successive governments in this area is obvious today, as untreated sewage is dumped into what were once vibrant lakes. The people and media of Bengaluru must wake up to these equally immediate challenges, other than transportation and mobility issues. The #SaveBellandur Action Plan focuses on rejuvenating Bellandur Lake with practical and viable actions and investments over a fixed period of time. Desilting accumulated sludge of the last three decades, developing natural wet lands, diverting and treating incoming sewage with a provision for treated water being used as a tertiary water supply source are major aspects of the Plan. For long term sustainability, a comprehensive action plan for harmonizing similar rejuvenation efforts in the upstream 49 lakes is essential and is outlined as Phase 2 of the Plan. And so, it is further proposed that this comprehensive and holistic solution for the Koramangala-Challagatta Valley should be replicated in the other valleys of the city. The policymakers and those in Government must intervene now. The cost of inaction to this potential looming crisis is high and it is time to finally wake up to this problem and to save our city for the present and future generations.

BELLANDUR LAKE MAP WITH PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

CONTRIBUTORS LIST SL No.

Name

Designation

1

Dr. K.C. Subhash Chandra

Retired Director, Mines & Geology

2

Shri S Vishwanath

Director, Biome Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

3

Shri Thippeswamy

Former Chief Engineer, BWSSB

4

Shri Pravinjith Kunhi Purayil

MD, Paradigm Environmental Strategies (P) Ltd.

5

Shri V Balasubramanian

Former Additional Chief Secretary of Karnataka

6

Captain Subbarao Prabhala

Co-founding Trustee of the Bangalore Environmental Trust

7

Shri Bhavesh D Patel

MD, Gujarat Eco Microbial Technologies Pvt Ltd.

8

Dr. Yellappa Reddy

Former Secretary, Dept. of Ecology & Environment, Karnataka

9

Shri Ramesh Sivaram

Secretary, The Forward Foundation

10

Shri Y.D. Manmohan

Chief Manager, STUP Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

11

Shri Ramamurthi

Original Petitioner for Bellandur Lake

Signature

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Contents BELLANDUR LAKE DRY WEATHER FLOW TREATMENT AND DIVERSION .................................................... 2 1.0

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND................................................................................................ 2

1.1

SPECIFIC REASONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRESENT STATE OF BELLANDUR LAKE: .................. 3

2.0

TOPOGRAPHY, CATCHMENT AREA AND LANDUSE OF BELLANDUR LAKE .................................. 3

3.0

CONTRIBUTORY AREAS & DRAINAGE NETWORK IN BELLANDUR LAKE CATCHMENT ............... 5

4.0

BELLANDUR LAKE WATER QUALITY ............................................................................................. 9

4.1

BELLANDUR LAKE WATER TEST RESULTS .................................................................................. 10

5.0

SOLUTIONS TO REJUVENATE AND REVIVE BELLANDUR LAKE .................................................. 14

5.1

SUMMARY OF SOLUTIONS ......................................................................................................... 16

6.0

PROJECT COST............................................................................................................................. 17

7.0

PROJECT TIMELINE ...................................................................................................................... 17

8.0

LONG TERM BENEFITS OF REJUVENATING BELLANDUR LAKE .................................................. 18

9.0

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 18

BEYOND REJUVENATING BELLANDUR LAKE AND TOWARDS A BETTER BENGALURU ............................. 19 ANNEXURE 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 21 ANNEXURE 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 23 ANNEXURE 3 ........................................................................................................................................... 28 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................ 28

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BELLANDUR LAKE DRY WEATHER FLOW TREATMENT AND DIVERSION 1.0

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

Bellandur Lake is the largest lake in Bengaluru. The lake is situated in South Eastern Part of Bengaluru in Mahadevapura Zone within BBMP boundary. The lake is spread over an area of 370.30Ha. (915 Acres)i, having a catchment area of 15,850Ha.with a storage capacity of about 8400 Million liters. Dry weather Inflow (non –rainfall) into the lake is about 300 MLD through 3 major valleys connected to the lake. Due to urbanization, change in land use pattern, setting up of industries in the upper catchments and its flow discharging to drainage systems, under capacity sewers, surcharged manholes, missing sewer network links and inadequate maintenance, the waste water and solid waste/garbage enters into Bellandur Lake through natural drainage system and in turn polluting the lake, changing the water quality characteristics into septic condition, deteriorating the ground water quality in the surrounding region, and causing serious health hazard in the vicinity. Presently a large part of the Bellandur tank is covered by weeds with the Lake having shrunk to about 730 Acres due to extreme accumulation of pollutants and uncontrolled encroachment. The colour of the water is dark and opaque in appearance. There is no aquatic life present while at outlets, downstream of the lake, heavy foaming is visible, indicative of heavy presence of effluents. The waters of the Lake are now toxic and harmful to the health and life of people living around who also suffer the obnoxious smell that prevails around the waterbody. The reason - untreated sewage flowing into the lake, insufficient treatment capacity and encroachment by developers into the lakebed. What needs to be assessed is the quantity of dry weather flow and wet weather flow in Bellandur Lake. This estimation would be very useful at the DPR stage. Outcry of public residing in the lake vicinity and media reporting on present condition of Bellandur Lake as captured from various sources are appended in Annexure ‘1’.

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1.1

SPECIFIC REASONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRESENT STATE OF BELLANDUR LAKE:

1. Untreated Sewage and industrial waste of about 300 MLD enter into the Lakeii. 2. Additional smaller inflows in the southern habitation areas except the military boundary areas. 3. Recent tests on water are consistent with tests done earlier clearly showing eutrophication (concentration of phosphates and nitrates which promote excessive growth of algae) and anoxic (deficiency of oxygen leading to death of aquatic life) conditions with Oxygen levels low as 2 mg/l. 4. Large scale contamination clearly indicated by high values of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Conductivity. 5. Production of Sulfide vapours generated by untreated sewage contaminants and organic combustibles causing high levels of odour and fires near Belandur and Yemalur waste weirs.

2.0

TOPOGRAPHY, CATCHMENT AREA AND LANDUSE OF BELLANDUR LAKE

Based on the topographic nature of Bangalore, drainage network & flow pattern, lake series and location of flow sinks etc., the topography is truncated (hydraulic contributory catchment area comprising of BBMP & BDA areas) into four major water shed regions/ flow streams viz., 1. Byramangala Lake Series (Inclusive of Vrishabhavathi Valley Series) 2. Varthur Lake Series (Inclusive of Koramangala & Challaghatta Valley Series) 3. Yelle Mallappa Chetty Lake Series (Inclusive of Hebbal Valley Series) 4. Dasarahalli Lake Series The Bellandur Lake is identified within Varthur The Lake surface has been covered with foam for sometime now Lake series catchment. The Varthur Lake series comprises of Portion of Core BBMP area i.e., East & South Zone, (comprising of Challaghatta Main Valley, Challaghatta Minor Valley (C200 - Ulsoor Valley) & Koramangala Main Valley (K100), Koramangala Minor Valley (K200 - Tavarekere Valley). In Peripheral Areas i.e., Bommanahalli Zone (BH) & Mahadevapura Zone (MD). The Contributory catchment area of Bellandur Lake is 15800 Ha. mainly comprising portion of East Zone, South Zone & Bommanahalli Zone of BBMP Area.

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Map depicting the contributory catchment areas, water bodies and storm water channels which exists in the Bellandur Lake catchment is appended below.

Bellandur Lake

Source: BBMP Storm Water Drains (SWD) Masterplan

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3.0

CONTRIBUTORY AREAS & DRAINAGE NETWORK IN BELLANDUR LAKE CATCHMENT

The landuse pattern in the catchment area is of mixed nature - residential and commercial builtup category is predominant, followed by public & semi public areas, open lands, defence areas, waterbodies and other utility areas. Vegetation is sparse in the catchment. Total length of storm water channels (drain) which exists in the catchment area (as per BBMP SWD master plan) is 140 Km. (Primary & Secondary). The existing storm water channels are provided with masonry/RCC lining by BBMP. Majority of them are desilted and recently remodeled. However, sewer outlets from buildings nearby are connected to drains and solid waste materials dumped inside along with industrial effluent from surrounding units is being discharged into Bellandur Lake. There are 49 water bodies existing in the catchment area, varying in size from (0.7 Ha. to 95 Ha.). All the lakes are situated in a series and well connected by natural storm water channels. Among them only few lakes namely Madivala Kere, Puttenahalli Kere, Ulsoor Kere, Lalbagh Kere and Agara Kere have been taken up for restoration, under various schemes and completed. Whereas due to ingress of sewage, continuous flow of waste water in storm water channels, lack of routine maintenance, most of them have lost their pristine condition and become polluted. Other lakes which exist in the catchment require immediate attention of the authorities for restoration and development. Puttenahalli Lake

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The terrain fall and length of major inlet channels/drain of Bellandur Lake, i.e., from origin point are as follows: Sl. No.

Name of Valley

Catchment area (Ha.)

Lake connectivity Drain Length (Km.)

1

Koramangala Main Valley (K100)

(From Majestic Area via K.R. Market, Shanthinagara, L. R. slum, Ejipura, Koramangala, S.T. Bed)

3502.45

13.225

2

Koramangala Minor Valley /Tavarekere Valley (K200)

(From NIMHANS hospital campus via. Tavarekere, Madivala, CSB Junction, HSR Layout, Agara Lake)

927.8

8.178

(From Basavanpura kere near Gottigere via Hulimavu, Arkere, Bommanahalli, J.P. Nagara, Dollars colony, BTM layout, Madivala Kere)

2010

5.1

(From Kothanur Kere via. Puttenahalli, Chunchaghatta, Sarakki, J.P. Nagara, Bilakalahalli, Madivala Kere)

1860

12.1

5

Begur Lake Series in Bommanahalli Zone

(From Begur village, Singasandra, Garebhavipalya, Hosur Road, Mangamapalya, HSR Layout, Ibbalur)

383.056

6.05

6

Challaghalla Valley & Ulsoor Valley (C100 & C200)

(From Vasanthanagara, Shivajinagara, Bharathinagara, Ulsoor, Cambridge Layout, Indiranagara, KGA Golf Club, HAL Airport, Challaghatta Village)

3855.27

16.512

3 Madivala Lake Series in Bommanahalli Zone 4

Note: Only major contributory streams/drains and areas are mentioned in above table. Primary Drain length mentioned above are as per SWD Master Plan.

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Based on contours, the topography of Bellandur Lake catchment area has a comparatively flat terrain compared to other valleys/lake series in Bengaluru. Terrain map of contributory catchment area, generated using GIS software is appended below:

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Satellite image (FCC: False Colour Composite) depicting the development trend over time and in turn the impact caused on waterways and waterbodies in Bellandur Lake’s catchment area.

Source: http://praja.in/hi/bangalore/2007/09/21/bellandur-lake-i.

The above image is an indication that the quantity of surface overland flows generated from the contributory catchments is substantial and reaches the receptor points ie., street drains and secondary/primary channels very quickly then flowing into the lakes and polluting them. Hence, there is an urgent need for an adequate number of outfall channels, with good carrying capacity and continuous maintenance so as to take out the sewage and pollutants.

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4.0

BELLANDUR LAKE WATER QUALITY

The water quality in the lake is depleting due to rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, inflow of waste water from establishment and residential complex from the catchment area. The residents in the proximity of the lake are experiencing hardship due to obnoxious odor and foaming and frothing problems emanating from the lake in recent months. The water quality from points of inflow in three areas and also from a point in the middle of the lake was tested in February 2016 in an accredited Laboratory in Bengaluru and the results of basic tests were in line with several other scientific papers and literature available in public domain which confirm the poor quality of water. Conductivity is linked directly to the total dissolved solids (TDS). Typical drinking water is in the range of 5-50 Ms/m while the samples from Bellandur have over 1000 micro seimens per cm i.e. about 100 Ms/M showing large contamination by dissolved solids i.e. waste water and effluent. High TDS of an average of 900 again shows the co-relation to the Conductivity thereby clearly showing no treatment is happening to inflowing waters. In environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test is used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD determine the amount of organic pollutants found in lakes and rivers or wastewater, making COD a useful measure of water quality. It is expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/L), which indicates the mass of oxygen consumed per liter of solution. An average of 170mg/l of COD seen in the samples, is also a bad indicator. Absolutely high Coliform and E Coli counts are indicators of raw domestic sewage entering in large volumes and also thriving in the water even in sample collected from the middle of Bellandur Lake. BOD counts taken at the surface of the four sampling spots were 25, 63, 52 and 44 mg/l is indicative of very low Dissolved Oxygen clearly indicating no support to aquatic life. Pictorial evidences clearly show sludge in as low as 15 cm below the top water surface which has eliminated all life in the Lake.

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4.1

BELLANDUR LAKE WATER TEST RESULTS

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5.0

SOLUTIONS TO REJUVENATE AND REVIVE BELLANDUR LAKE

DRY WEATHER FLOW TREATMENT AND DIVERSION To rejuvenate Bellandur Lake and revive it completely, the raw sewage (dry weather flow) entering the lake needs to be treated adequately and then diverted. For the Lake to survive and get back its original pristine condition not only the sewage inflow of today must be stopped but the contamination of more than two decades has to be cleaned up. The dry weather flow diversion and treatment involves broadly three steps STEP-1: DEWATERING, DEWEEDING AND NUTRIENT RICH SOIL / SILT REMOVAL: To improve the water quality in the lake and in the tube wells dug in the vicinity and most importantly to improve the overall environment around the lake, the solution proposed is dewatering the lake completely, draining out the pollutants, filthy silt and other toxic deposits accumulated in the lake over the decades and only to allow fresh water entry into the lake. 1. To facilitate construction of dry weather channel, the lake would be gradually drained in a controlled manner by using thrust boring technology at two locations (away from the outfall weirs) and connecting these outlets to the sluice channels downstream of the main bund in a regulated flow. 2. The vegetation growth/weeds including the roots within the lake area and along the lake periphery, would be removed before draining or after to stack and dispose to landfill sites. 3. Based on soil analysis test results, the top layer of high nutrient rich or toxic silt/sediment layer to be removed or stabilized through treatment. 4. Finally, over a 3-4 year timeline it would be ideal to restore the lake bed to its original depth (and without disturbing the original lake bed) thus utilizing the good quality earth available after treatment for the development of artificial islands used for bird nesting etc. This will minimize and optimize costs which would be very high if untreated soil in the form of sludge and slush were to be disposed to any other location also causing a serious civic issue of transporting huge volumes across the city.

# S a v e B e l l a n d u r A c t i o n P l a n | 15 STEP-2: CONSTRUCTION OF DRY WEATHER FLOW DIVERSION CHANNEL: Large quantity of sewage/ dry weather flow from Koramangala valley, Madiwala valley and Ibbaluru on one side and Chellagatta / HAL valley on other side enters Bellandur Lake which is an estimated volume of 250 – 300 MLD. 1. To intercept and divert the dry weather flow entering Bellandur Lake, RCC diversion drains must be constructed. 2. There are number of sewage entry points to lake especially on southern side. The diversion channels will be required to intercept all the sewage entry from these and prevent sewage inflow to Bellandur Lake. 3. For facilitating rain water to enter the lake, weirs should be provided at Lake Inlets which will allow dry weather or land inflows to pass through the RCC diversion channel while rain water would continue to come into the Lake. 4. To prevent entry of solid waste and silt, screens and silt trap at the entry points are to be provided. Diversion Channel Alignment

Length (metres)

Northern Periphery

Challaghatta Valley Inlet upto D/S of Outfall weir near Yamalur Village

3,650

Southern Periphery

Koramangala Valley Inlets (K100, K200 & BH599) upto D/S of Outfall weir near Bellandur Village

4,150

Total

7,800

STEP-3: TREATMENT TO DRY WEATHER FLOW AND SURFACE RUNOFF: 1. The dry weather flow from the above to channels will be passed through a natural treatment system / Soil Bio Technology (SBT) before discharging to downstream. The treatment system is low on maintenance and is a proven one. For the purpose of creating the natural treatment system, part of the lake land will be used. Once the dry weather flow stops later in the valleys due to improvement in the sewage collection and flow system, the infrastructure created for natural treatment system may be used by BWSSB.

# S a v e B e l l a n d u r A c t i o n P l a n | 16 2. The storm water entering the lake through the valleys will be carrying surface pollutants. To arrest and to treat the pollutants in the storm water wetlands, vented weirs of suitable sizes are proposed at all major inlet locations.

5.1

SUMMARY OF SOLUTIONS

1. Priority Desilting and Removal of Sludge Desilting envisages dewatering or removing water in a controlled way to prevent downstream flooding; clearing most of the contaminated water and allowing the silt/sludge to naturally dry and excavating dried sludge and silt. Based on accumulation and characteristics of the dry sludge a silt removal quantity can be mapped and decided. Historical data on the depths of the lake will be the key reference points for desilting. 2. Stopping Untreated Sewage from Entering the Lake Percolation of good fresh water into the ground will recharge aquifers in areas around the lake which have been overexploited and are facing acute shortage of water. Untreated sewage is flowing in at several places along the periphery from habitations and other structures and these are separate from the three main infeed points of the lake. This supplementary sewage must be stopped from entering the lake and arrangements made to treat this water downstream before discharge into the next downstream or kaluve. 3. Ensuring 100 % Sewage Treatment and Stopping Inflows of Sewage in Storm Water Drains BWSSB has been coming up with efforts to ensure that all sewage is removed from Rajakaluves by laying large diameter pipes. In few years most of the Rajakaluves coming into Bellandur will be free of sewage and the pipes will lead straight into the Treatment plants whose capacity needs to be upped and existing functionality made 100 % so that there is minimal or no dry season sewage entering the lakes. 4. Discharge of Treated Sewage Downstream Augmentation of sewage plants and putting up additional facilities to ensure treatment of the waste waters, residual inflows and inflows from expanding commercial/residential utilities on banks of the lake. Treatment facilities can be supplemented by operationalizing low cost natural treatment facility plants like a SBT [soil bio technology] system or many of its similar derivatives. 5. Added Water Resource for Tertiary Purpose: Using the Huge Quantity of 300 MLD Treated Water Proposal to BWSSB to use the available 300 MLD of treated water for tertiary purpose in non-Cauvery serviced areas of Bengaluru. This huge amount of water has the potential of being converted even to potable water standards after being treated appropriately which can resolve the problems of water supply in the newly added areas of Bangalore in the Mahadevpura /Whitefield and Bommanahalli areas.

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6.0

PROJECT COST

The budgetary cost, for implementing the proposals calculated as follows: Sl. No.

1

2

3

Description of Work

Cost for dewatering using thrust boring at two location with control arrangement, connecting drain to Bellandur outlet channel for diverting the drained lake water, Vegetation/jungle clearance and ground preparation works near major inlet channel, removal of top lake bed soil and disposal, making temporary diversion drain inside the lake bed, study of chemical parameters of lake bed deposition etc. Cost for major inlet channel improvement works includes desilting, construction of diversion weirs, silt traps, providing screens and disused material disposal, construction of RCC diversion channels from Chellagatta valley and from Koramangala, Madiwala and Ibbaluru valleys to natural treatment systems. Cost for providing natural treatment system at two locations, one for treating dry weather flow from Challagatta valley and second one for treating the dry weather flow from Koramangala, Madiwala and Ibbaluru valley before discharging to downstream of Bellandur Lake. Providing the wetland at the entry of valleys to Bellandur Lake to enhance the quality of storm water entering the Bellandur Lake. Total Project Cost

Amount (Rs. In Crores)

25

125

250

400

Note: A reference must be made to the BDA’s DPR for Restoration and Development of Bellandur Lake submitted to the Union Ministry of Water Resources by the Urban Development Department, GoK dated 6th January 2016.

7.0

PROJECT TIMELINE  The implementation period is between 2-3 years after a full-fledged DPR is drawn up PHASE 2 (may be taken up later) to augment Water Resources in Bengaluru

 To Use the 300 MLD treated water for tertiary / potable purpose for which a separate project note can be made available.

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8.0

9.0

LONG TERM BENEFITS OF REJUVENATING BELLANDUR LAKE 

Bengaluru’s natural ecological system heavily dependent on lakes can be saved.



Bellandur Lake – the largest water body in the city will be revived and support aquatic life.



Dry weather flow (sewage) entering the Bellandur Lake from Challagatta, Koramangala, Madiwala and other point sources around lake will reduce in a very significant and impactful way.



The quality of water of Bellandur Lake and overall environment will become healthy and life supporting. All environment issues related to the present odour, foam, froth and weed issues will have been largely resolved.



The ground water quality in and around Bellandur will improve hugely.



The quality of water downstream of Bellandur Lake will be much improved reducing the pollution that currently goes out.



Bellandur Lake can be used as an alternate source of water for secondary purposes in areas of Bengaluru that have poor and inadequate supply and at economic costs.

CONCLUSION

On behalf of the people of Bengaluru, Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) requests the Government of Karnataka to implement the solutions proposed to rejuvenate Bellandur Lake and also requests the Central Government through Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to collaborate and provide all financial and technical assistance as required to rejuvenate Bengaluru’s beleaguered Bellandur Lake. This measure will be a first step and in time towards ensuring the natural heritage of Bengaluru does not become an unfortunate casualty of vested interests and pollution and that the next generation is not left to inherit dead lakes that once upon a time nourished and nurtured Bengaluru.

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BEYOND REJUVENATING BELLANDUR LAKE AND TOWARDS A BETTER BENGALURU The rejuvenation of Bellandur Lake is a beginning and must be understood as the first step towards saving the City’s natural heritage of lakes as also addressing the related pollution and water issues of Bengaluru. Hence, moving further it is suggested that the revival of upstream lakes is taken up in a sequential manner to achieve the desired goal of reclaiming Bengaluru’s place as City of Lakes. In the near future, Bengaluru will necessarily require alternate sources of water and hence it is imperative we harmonize science and technology to find a common solution to issues that plague the city’s lakes. Tackling pollutants: Untreated sewage and indiscriminate dumping of debris and industrial effluents has choked several Bengaluru lakes. It is essential to identify these pollutants in upstream and connected lakes ensuring thereafter they are tackled at source and in a continuous manner. 

   

In June 2015, KSPCB had ordered apartment complexes with more than 100 flats to install STPs within their premises. As per media reports the BWSSB in January 2016 made a recommendation to the state government to bring the number of flats down to 20iii for mandating STP. GoK must consider the same. KSPCB and BWSSB must ensure compliance of norms to restrict polluting industries from dumping sewage. Polluting industries must be penalised with stringent action. Existing STPs must well maintained and operated at full efficiency. The KTCP Act needs amendment to include sewage disposal mechanism for non-BWSSB areas.

Treating Sludge: 

Sludge is an equally potential threat to the environment. However, prior treatment being applied it is important to identify the nature of sludge as also the heavy metal concentration in it. Existing DPRs on Bellandur Lake are silent about sludge and silt. Bathymetric tests could be done with NIO and CUSAT Marine geology division in Cochin to assess exact quantity and concentration.

Maintain drains efficiently:  

Diversion channels carrying sewage during dry weather should be maintained optimally to ensure efficient working. Given multistoried residential buildings are growing in numbers, BWSSB should put in place adequate quality sewage pipes that can handle the volume of sewage and facilitate connecting to the main trunks properly.

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Monitor water quality periodically: 

Continuous water quality monitoring system in the entire catchment areas will be useful. KSPCB must monitor various parameters like turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH levels etc. through SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition).

Replicating Bellandur and developing micro-watershed plan for each upstream lake: 



A Bellandur Lake revival plan should at a further stage involve managing catchment areas or the micro-watershed in the upstream lakes. It is essential to use the ridge to valley approach for each of the lakes. This could begin with a DPR of all upstream lakes following up with a revival plan as required. Vrishabhavati and Varthur can replicate the learnings from Bellandur catchment.

Creating Alternate Water Sources for Bengaluru: 

There is need for a nodal agency within BWSSB dedicated to urban water management that will leverage the government agencies and social collective action for instance laying focus on Ponnaiyar and Arkavathy catchment areas which receive 800 MLD and 500 MLD respectively that could be harnessed for use as secondary or non-potable source of water.

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ANNEXURE 1 PUBLIC OUTCRY OVER THE FROTHING BELLANDUR LAKE

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ANNEXURE 2 PHOTOGRAPHS OF BELLANDUR LAKE SURROUNDINGS DEPICTING ITS CONDITION

Ibbaluru Lake of SWD near Sun City

View of Ibbaluru Lake outfall SWD BH599 near labour shed

View of Bellandur Lake near BH599 (Ibbaluru Lake outfall)

View of Bellandur Lake near BH599 (Ibbaluru Lake outfall SWD) joining location on Southern periphery near Shobha Apartments

Weed growth in Bellandur Lake on Southern Periphery

View of Bellandur Lake (South to North)

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View of Bellandur Lake on Southern periphery

View of Bellandur Lake @ K100 & K200 SWD joining location

Habitation development Bellandur Lake boundary @ Bellandur Village

View of Bellandur weir near Bellandur village D/S side

HAL STP

View of Challaghatta Valley Inlet channel near Bellandur

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View of C Valley SWD behind HAL Airport

View of Bellandur Lake near K & C Valley STP (North West to South East)

Weed growth in Bellandur Lake near K & C Valley STP

View of Bellandur Lake periphery near defence dairy farm land (North West direction)

View of SWD MD ---- near Yamlur Village

View of Yamlur Lake weir

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View of SWD D/S of Bellandur Lake weir@ Yamlur

View of Bellandur Lake near HAL STP (North East to South East)

Weed growth near outfall weir @Yamlur side (North East Corner)

View of Bellandur Lake Main bund near Yamlur side

View of Bellandur Lake from Main bund (South East to North West)

View of Bellandur Lake from Main bund (East to West)

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View of Bellandur Lake from Main bund on South East periphery

View of Bellandur Lake Main bund near Bellandur Village

View of SWD channel D/S of Bellandur Village

View of Bellandur Lake of weir near Bellandur Village

Weed growth near Bellandur Village of weir

View of Culvert across SWD near Bellandur Village

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ANNEXURE 3 TYPICAL CROSS SECTIONS OF DRY WEATHER FLOW DIVERSION CHANNELS The conceptual plan depicting diversion channel alignments, Islands proposed for development using available earth, bund locations along the military farm land area etc., are shown below:

REFERENCES

i

DPR for Restoration and Comprehensive Development of Bellandur Lake and Varthur Lake submitted to Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India dated January 6, 2016. ii http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/ETR27/ETR27_index.pdf iii http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/Sewage-treatment-plants-mandatory-for-apartments-withmore-than-20-flats/articleshow/51016015.cms