In Bengaluru, 42 of the 53 lakes the Karnataka Pollution Control Board tested recently do not have water fit for drinking or bathing, The New Indian Express reported on Monday. The agency, which is mandated to carry out a Water Quality Index test once every three months, tested the water in the lakes last in November 2017.
The index lists lakes in five categories – A, B, C, D and E – with water in the E category lakes having the worst quality. After the tests in November, not one lake was categorised under A or B, the report said, while 35 lakes were listed under D. Unidentified officials told The New Indian Express that industrial and domestic waste dumped into these lakes had rendered their water unfit for any use.
As much as 85% of the water bodies in Bengaluru are severely polluted, a two-year project conducted by the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute had found in 2017. Researchers looked at 1,518 water bodies and studied up to 65 attributes for each water body, from type of fencing and appearance to land maps and water quality, The Hindu had reported.
Last week, the Bellandur lake had caught fire again, and it took 5,000 Armymen and firefighters over seven hours to control the blaze. The 1,000-acre expanse of the Bellandur lake is infamous for severe pollution and froth that spills over and catches fire.
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