BENGALURU:
Bellandur Lake, the city’s most polluted waterbody that spews toxic froth and occasionally bursts into flames, is guarded by several marshals who have been deployed by
BBMP to check garbage dumping and encroachments. However, the 16-member team does not have the power to penalize the offenders. All they can do is just warn miscreants and ‘advice’ them not to repeat it.
The team, which was deputed on March 1 and works in shifts, has so far identified more than 20 cases of dumping (1-2 every day), and even put out some fires that would otherwise have led to another lake-on-fire situation. They have seized debrisdumping vehicles and, in one case, even reloaded a tractor and sent it back.
“Apart from construction debris, locals dump household waste here. When caught on a few occasions, some of them claimed that they were close to the MLA. Since we don’t have power, we cannot fine them, but can only warn and take their pictures,” said a marshal. The pictures and videos are then uploaded on a WhatsApp group which has zonal BBMP engineers and the joint commissioner as members.
The marshals are a part of BBMP’s project which includes installation of CCTV cameras and a drone around the lake to check fire incidents. However, many residents term these measures nothing but an eyewash.
“There hasn’t been much change since the marshals took over, despite them doing their job diligently. They monitor only the lake and the 75m buffer zone. They haven’t acted against those setting fire to garbage just five metres outside the buffer zone. Between my apartment building and the lake, there is an open plot where one can see at least one fire every day,” said
Seema Sharma, a resident.
Odette Katrak, another resident, said the marshals do not always attend calls and the system cannot function as an emergency service.
TIMESVIEW
The much-hyped initiative of appointing marshals to stop pollution of Bellandur Lake looks like a half-hearted exercise. While marshals are mandated to keep a watch on garbage dumping and encroachments, they have no punitive powers and the whole exercise doesn’t serve the purpose. They may have been successful in discouraging a few culprits, but warnings or advice from a seemingly toothless team will not keep offenders at bay. The BBMP must do a reality check to assess how far its measures have been successful on the ground and take adequate corrective steps.
The marshals recently sent back a tractor carrying trash
