Just 21 of Bengaluru’s 210 lakes have water fit for drinking: CSIR-NEERI report

Water

The report was submitted in the High Court this week and it will be discussed in the coming weeks.

Prajwal Bhat

Representational image

As many as 19 lakes in Bengaluru have been encroached and only 21 lakes have water fit for drinking, a new study submitted in the Karnataka High Court this week has found. The study was conducted by CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and it suggested long-term and short-term measures to rejuvenate Bengaluru's lakes. CSIR-NEERI was asked to submit a report by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) after it was directed by the Karnataka High Court which is hearing a batch of petitions related to the condition of lakes in the city. CSIR-NEERI's report stated that only 21 of the 210 lakes in Bengaluru have water fit for drinking purposes. Among this, 11 lakes are in the Yelahanka zone of the city and includes the Agrahara lake, Ramagondanahalli lake and Thirumenahalli lake that have been developed. In the rest of the city only 10 out of 178 lakes have water fit for drinking.  Discussing the popular Ulsoor Lake, the report stated that the water quality of the lake was only good enough for domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes. Ït stated that the water in the Kaggadasapura lake is unsuitable for drinking purposes.  Only 1 of the 48 lakes in Bommanahalli zone had water fit for drinking - Nyanappanahalli Lake - while 3 lakes in Mahadevapura zone had water fit for drinking. In many cases, it was not possible to measure the water quality since the lake surface was covered with water weeds. The report also stated that 19 lakes in the city were encroached upon. Out of the 205 lakes, 19 lakes are being termed as disused lakes. All these disused lakes are encroached except Arehalli and Tavarekere," states the report. The Lingarajapura, Doresanipalya, Geddalahalli, Arehalli and Bilekahalli lakes were encroached by the construction of Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) layouts. The report suggested that desilting and dredging are essential to restore the water in lakes.  The High Court of Karnataka will study the issue of the condition of Bengaluru's lakes beginning next week. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum will hold sittings twice a week and focus on rejuvenation of few lakes including the Kamakshipalya, Arehalli and Tavarekere lakes.

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Biden administration finalizes purchase of 200M additional vaccine doses

The 200 million doses just purchased will be available by May, rather than June as originally predicted.

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Biden moving to withdraw Trump-approved Medicaid work rules

Democrats long complained the rules were illegal and aimed at shrinking health coverage for poor adults.

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Lawmakers, local health officials decry California's confusing Covid vaccination rules

Gov. Gavin Newsom last month abruptly announced the state would play a bigger role in California’s vaccination drive.

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Police just watched as woman threw ink on my face: Noted rationalist KS Bhagwan to TNM

Controversy

On February 4, Bhagwan’s face was smeared with ink by a woman who called him an anti-Hindu.

Pooja Prasanna

Days after noted author and rationalist KS Bhagwan was smeared with ink on his face in Bengaluru, he told TNM that the police persons who were present inside the City Civil Court Complex premises refused to act and remained mute spectators. This even as Bhagwan cried out to the police to stop the woman, he says. He also denies reports that the Mysuru police have issued a gag order to him after the incident.  “Reports that police have asked me to not speak to the media or address a gathering is not true, it is incorrect news. I have myself decided to stay quiet for a couple of days,” Bhagwan told TNM. Narrating the incident that unfolded on February 4, Bhagwan said, “I got a bail in a case and the judge said I can leave. When I was exiting, she came from behind and smeared ink on my face. There were at least ten police personnel standing there. I asked them to arrest the lady immediately but not a single person came forward,” Bhagwan added. A video of the incident where rationalist and multiple award winning Kannada writer KS Bhagwan was smeared with ink was shared on Facebook and Twitter by the city-based lawyer Meera Raghavendra who claimed that she did that as a form of punishment. According to Meera, Bhagwan deserved this for allegedly insulting Hindu religion.  Read: Karnataka’s warriors against hate For decades, Bhagwan’s alternate perspectives on Hindu customs and mythology have earned him immense hostility from many and even several death threats. Police investigating the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh had allegedly found a hitlist, which had Bhagwan’s name right on top. Bhagwan alleges that the police who were reluctant to take any action have not given him any update yet. “I have no idea who the lady who threw ink at me is. That day when the incident happened I was told that she is a lawyer. I don’t know even today if shehas been arrested,” he told TNM. Since the latest incident, Bhagwan says police patrolling has increased around his Mysuru residence and that he has not received any fresh calls of threat.

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Bengaluru to see dry, chilly mornings this week: Here’s why

Weather

The lowest temperature recorded for Bengaluru city on Wednesday was 12.2°C at HAL station.

TNM Staff

WikimediaCommons/Manojk

If you are in Bengaluru, expect cool and dry temperatures to prevail till the end of this week, especially in the night and early hours of the morning. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 29 degree Celsius and 14 degree Celsius respectively. Mornings will remain foggy and misty while there will be bright skies for the rest of the day, leading to a rise in temperature. The temperatures are expected to drop gradually after sunset. The lowest temperature recorded for Bengaluru city on Wednesday was 12.2°C at the Indian Meteorological Department’s HAL station. Friday saw the temperature drop as low as 11°C for IMD’s station in Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra (GKVK), which was the lowest of the season. Similar trends have been observed across the state with Bidar recording the lowest minimum temperature of 9°C in the plains of the state. Many places in the state have seen temperatures vary between 1-3°C in many places from normal. According to Sunil M Gavaskar, a meteorologist at Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, this weather is not particularly extraordinary and that this kind of temperature at this time of the year is expected. He pointed out that in the last two to three days, the minimum temperatures have been going a little lower than normal temperature (of an average of 30 years). “This is partly due to the cold waves prevalent in northern parts of the country, and so, we are experiencing dry winds across the state. Further, due to clear skies, there are no incidents of heat being trapped, so we are seeing temperatures drop with the sunset. That is why day temperatures are as high as 30°C and the minimum temperatures are as low as 15°C for most parts of the state,” Sunil Gavaskar told TNM. “In some isolated parts in north Karnataka, we are seeing minimum temperatures reach subzero temperature of minus 10°C. Last year, we had seen the temperature in those areas drop further below, so there is nothing much to worry about,” he added. In the next week, the temperature is expected to rise a bit as there will be some clouds. Some parts of south interior Karnataka may also receive rains. Bidar and Kalaburagi are places that are experiencing significant drops in minimum temperature, said Sunil Gavaskar.

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Bengaluru: Unscheduled power cuts in many areas after technical snag

Power Cut

Koramangala, JP Nagar, Austin Town , Ulsoor, Indira Nagar and Chamarajpet were some of the affected areas.

TNM Staff

Many parts of Bengaluru on Thursday faced unscheduled power interruptions from 12 pm due to a technical snag. The areas that were impacted were Jayanagar, SR Nagar, Shanthi Nagar, Wilson Garden, Austin Town, Koramangala, JP Nagar, Ulsoor, Indira nagar, Chamarajpet, Marathahalli, HAL and surrounding areas, according to the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom). In a tweet, Bescom said that power supply will be restored within one hour’s time. However, many areas have not seen restoration of power supply at the time of writing. “There was an interruption in KPTCL’s (Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited) major power receiving station in Hoodi and all areas that come under the purview of that station are suffering power cuts. We do not have major details on the cause of this as we are a distribution company and they are a transmission company,” a Bescom official said. Chandrababu Naidu, Executive Engineer at KPTCL said that the snag will be fixed within 10 minutes, and did not share further details. This was not the only unscheduled power outage reported from the city on Thursday. There was no power supply in Bharath Layout, Turahalli, PP Layout, Uttarahalli, Happy Valley, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bank of Baroda colony, Thirumalashettyhalli, Nagawara and surrounding areas for more than an hour till 11:30 am. However, reasons for these outages were not disclosed by Bescom. These incidents of daily power cuts are not new and have been happening regularly in Bengaluru for a host of reasons. In January, many Bengaluru residents had to face scheduled power outages from 10 am to 5.30 pm for five days. First it was areas in HSR Layout which faced ths outage between January 11 and 16. Later, areas of Konankunte and Puttenahalli faced similar outages between January 18 and 22.

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