Bengaluru: The Belandur Lake in Bengaluru, infamous for its high level of pollution, caught fire on Friday.
The residents in the area noticed thick smoke emerging from the lake and alerted authorities but more than eight hours after that, the lake continues to burn.
"The fire which had come up to the perimeter of the Army location was put out by more than 5000 army personnel and fire fighting equipments of the ASC College and Centre," said an official statement.
"The fire on the lake is still on as at 7.25 pm at two places. Army personnel are still alert to prevent its spread into army and adjoining civil area," it added.
Fire and emergency services team which reached the spot to douse the fire could not take their vehicles to the spot as the fire was flaring up on a wetland.
"We were seeing thick smoke since morning. In the evening we saw fire flaring up. It's only getting massive. The fire service team stopped much before the spot," said Nagesh, a resident.
Lakes in Bengaluru have been infamous in the past year after it had formed toxic foam clouds that floated onto nearby roads last year.
The lakes with alarming levels of sewage and chemical effluents had also caught fire several times in the last two years gathering national attention.
The National Green Tribunal which had taken a suo moto case after a similar fire caught it's attention had come down heavily on the state government and its agencies, and had asked them to take necessary action for reviving the lake.
However, nothing seems to have been done to revive the lake which has been receiving untreated sewage and industrial waste for more than a decade. The cause for earlier fires are said to have been due to the chemicals in the water.
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