NEWS

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a seven-member joint committee to look into alleged violations of buffer zone and solid waste management guidelines at Chandapura lake in Anekal taluk of Bengaluru Urban district.

DETAILS

• NGT took suo motu cognizance
• Panel includes – Bengaluru District Magistrate officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), National Wetland Authority and the State Wetland Authority.
• Nodal agency for coordination and compliance will be the CPCB and the KSPCB
• Committee has been directed to undertake visits to the site and interact with the stakeholders to ascertain compliance to environmental norms and will be free to coordinate with the concerned authorities and take assistance from any individual/institution.

ISSUE

• Rapid encroachments
• Industrial effluents choking the lake
• Industrial effluents from the Kachanayakanahalli lake upstream drains into the Chandapura lake without being treated
• Lake also receives untreated sewage from Chandapura town through stormwater drains
• construction activities have taken up nearly two acres of the water body

ABOUT THE LAKE

• Built during the Chola dynasty to meet the drinking and domestic requirements of the local settlers
• The lake is spread over total 24.27 acres