Fire engulfs Bellandur lake, this time from trash heap

A fire broke out at Bellandur lake on Thursday, triggering panic among motorists on the busy Sarjapura Main Road.

The flames raged for a while, and the area was enveloped by huge clouds of smoke.

Fires are often sparked by deadly effluents in the lake, but this time, it was a pile of burning garbage that caused the scare.

“Around 5.30 pm, smoke started billowing from the lake,’’ Seema Sharma, who lives in the vicinity, told Deccan Herald.

Garbage and debris are dumped in the lake every day, rued Seema, a member of the citizen group Kasamukta Bellandur.

“Though we alert the BBMP official concerned, he says he is helpless. Today, someone was burning garbage and the fire went out of control,’’ Seema said. Odette Katrak, another citizen, also blamed clandestine garbage dumping.

“We hear tractors coming at night, and there is absolutely no one to stop them,” she said.

Karnataka State Pollution Control Board chairman Lakshman said he had issued notices to the BBMP, BWSSB and other agencies to stop the dumping.