Bengaluru Lake On Fire: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Others React On Twitter

Bengaluru's Bellandur Lake is once again in the news and all over social media. The lake burst into flames at around 4 pm last evening and led to thick clouds of smoke that severely hit traffic. According to fire department officials, the lake caught fire because of the garbage around it. And while officials claim the fire was put out within half an hour, pictures and videos of the lake enveloped in thick smoke have been circulating on social media. There has been a deluge of reactions on the incident, with many stumped by the magnitude of the fire.

"Usually, a pile of garbage strewn around the lake is set on fire, but yesterday it caused a scare among residents and motorists as the smoke started billowing and surrounding the lake in the evening," K U Ramesh, Deputy Director at Karnataka Fire Department, said.

People in villages nearby allege that the burning of garbage and dry grass is a regular activity around the lake and takes place unchecked.  This is the second time the lake has caught fire in three days.

Now warnings have been sent to officials of Bengaluru's civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or BBMP along with notices to the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board against the dumping.

People have shared their anger on Twitter over the fire and the outrageous level of pollution.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon, tweeted NDTV's story and expressed shock.
 

Lake On Fire: Bengaluru Drivers Swerved, Firemen Stunned - shocking apathy n serious neglect @CMofKarnataka https://t.co/rYTNTpjdv5

- Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) February 17, 2017

Here's what others on Twitter are saying:
 

@thekjgeorge Sir, is this enough sign lake needs urgent steps ? This is above the lake, imagine what goes below #bellandurlake @WFRising pic.twitter.com/DIkqwxRUcn

- Murali (@muralig_wr) February 16, 2017

@ndtv I am afraid about the lake ecosystem. Where is NGT ? Who is responsible for this disaster?

- Ashish Gupta (@ashishgupta713) February 17, 2017

Fire, smoke, garbage and pollution around Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru. The city used to be so clean. We have become immune to slow death.

- Rahul Raj (@bhak_sala) February 17, 2017

Heres a tragic sight that sums up expolitation n killing of #Bengaluru ! #Bellandur lake on fire this morning pic.twitter.com/4DTF7QzZwT

- Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@rajeev_mp) February 17, 2017

This isn't the first time the lake has been in the news. Earlier, pictures and videos of the lake frothing because of pollution also went viral.

It seems residents of the city will have to wait and watch for a permanent solution for this problem.

(With PTI inputs)