5,000 troops swing into action to fight Bellandur Lake fire in B’luru

Thousands of Army troops battled the huge fire emanating from the highly polluted Bellandur lake on saturday, army officials said.

The fire caused panic among thousands of people in Bengaluru, the army added.

Nearly 5,000 soldiers swung into action on Friday after the fire threatened a military area with huge clouds of smoke billowing from the lake filled with sewage, chemical effluents and construction debris and choked with water hyacinth, an army statement said.

The statement said the efforts of the troops prevented the fire from engulfing civilian areas of Bengaluru, one of India’s key information technology hubs.

Fire engines and water bowsers from nearby civilian areas also assisted in controlling the

BENGALURU:

fire. A huge cloud of smoke was still rising from the area on Saturday morning with firefighters trying to douse it completely.

This is not the first time the lake has caught fire. Similar fires were reported in the lake in February and August last year.

In 2015, a toxic froth spilled over to some of Bengaluru’s streets due to extreme levels of

pollution in the Bellandur Lake. Tests found extremely high amounts of phosphorous and other inorganic chemical compounds in the lake.

Authorities have been trying to repair a barrier that was supposed to keep sewage from flowing into the lake. Another Bengaluru lake caught fire in May last year due to garbage burning.