The city of Bengaluru in southern India used to be known as the city of a thousand lakes. The lakes were dug in the sixteen century by the city’s founders, and later they were further developed by the British. The lakes were teaming with wildlife, from fish and frogs to snails and water beetles. Every year, numerous migratory birds flew thousands of kilometres to winter in the water-rich city and the lakes provided the vital drinking water required to quench the thirst of the city’s residents.
Tragically, the city of a thousand lakes is now a city of one hundred and fifty lakes, and the vast majority of those which survive are badly polluted.
Some lakes have simply dried up, but many have been filled in and are now hidden under buildings or golf courses. Slums have encroached onto a number of the remaining lakes, and the majority have become toxic cesspits of human and industrial waste.
One of the largest lakes is called Bellandur. It’s situated in the high-tech hub of Bengaluru and it’s severely polluted. For the last decade the lake has taken on a life of its own and every summer a toxic foam has erupted from its depths.
The foam is created in the hot summer weather after a downpour. Sadly, summer is the time of the monsoon, so there are plenty of downpours at this time. The rain mixes with the high content of ammonia and phosphate in the lake and this generates a vast amount of froth. As the foam builds, it begins to spill over the edges of the lake and onto the adjoining roads. If there is any wind at all, the foam will be blown further, into homes and other buildings.
The foam has an unbearable stench, and residents say it irritates the skin and is a breeding ground for diseases. They also claim that they cannot park their cars near the lake, as the toxic foam fades the colour of the paintwork. However, the foam isn’t just unpleasant, it’s highly toxic; researchers at the Indian Institute of Science have discovered that the nitrates in the foam make it carcinogenic.
In an attempt to contain the pollution, authorities installed a fence to prevent the foam from seeping onto the road. This did appear to be working to a certain extent, until part of the fence collapsed and the froth escaped across the road once more. A fence is clearly not the answer.
Bellandur Lake isn’t the only lake which releases a toxic foam with an offensive odour. A number of other lakes also have the same issue, but foam isn’t the only problem; Bellandur Lake caught fire last year. There is such a large amount of detergents, oil and grease in the water that it actually became flammable.
Another of the lakes which is still surviving in Bengaluru is Ulsoor Lake, which is situated on the northeast fringe of the city centre. This lake is far less polluted than many of the other lakes and is home to some wildlife. However, even this lake turned into a fish graveyard in March this year, when hundreds of thousands of fish suddenly died, and were spotted floating on the surface of the water. Again, the culprit of this mass death is believed to be industrial waste and the free flow of sewage into the lake.
India is a country which is known to put environmental concerns on a back burner. Successive governments have long argued that their priority was the economy. Even though India is the third largest carbon polluter, they maintain that rich countries like the UK and the US should bear the moral responsibility for climate change and their country should not be denied the chance to grow its economy. However, in taking this stand, it’s the residents of India who suffers.
Rather than point fingers at others, it might be more helpful to learn lessons from history. The UK used to be highly polluted. Until the 1870s, human waste was poured directly into the waterways, including the river Thames, which bisects London. The stench was unbelievable, and a number of outbreaks of cholera and other deadly diseases were directly attributed to the river. A civil engineer named Joseph Bazalgette designed a series of interconnecting sewers to move the sewage outlet eastwards, away from the city, and he is said to have saved more lives than any other official living in the Victorian era.
The Thames is now a far cleaner river, but around the globe there are still a staggering number of deaths which are caused by unclean water. The World Health Organisation estimate that diarrhoea caused by inadequate drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene led to over 800,000 deaths in 2014.
It is very evident that clean waterways are essential to a healthy, thriving population. Given the amount of rain that falls in Bengaluru, it is possible to replenish the water in the lakes naturally, but they will only stay clean if the pollution stops. The city shouldn’t wait for a disaster before it cleans up its act, history doesn’t need to be repeated.