Green panel asks for detailed project report on Puttenahalli lake pipeline project in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has requested a detailed project report (DPR) for the BBMP’s project to build a pipeline inside the Puttenahalli lake in Yelahanka, and has extended the stay on the controversial work.

In its July 4 order, a bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati stated that the June 18 interim order staying the BBMP’s work “would continue until further orders”.

The bench noted “not much progress” after the Forest Department, the custodian of the lake, mentioned that the BBMP and the BWSSB were preparing a DPR.

“The BBMP and the BWSSB are directed to file their reports along with photographs and a sketch explaining the distance between the rajakaluve (stormwater drain), the lake, and the location of the sewage line,” the tribunal said.

After sewage from the northern and western areas entered the lake in May, the BBMP illegally dug up the walking path of the waterbody to install Hume pipes to carry the sewage and stormwater to a nearby sewage treatment plant. 

Undertaking any work in the lake, declared a bird conservation reserve, requires authorisation from wildlife authorities.

The BBMP’s unauthorised project prompted the Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust to move the NGT, which stayed the work on June 18.

In its latest order, the NGT directed the officials to provide details of the width and carrying capacity of the drain and the Hume pipes.