Fire at Bellandur, Varthur lakes triggers panic

Bengaluru: Bellandur and Varthur lakes caught fire in the wee hours of Friday. Though the marshals deployed at the lakes doused the fire they were found to be ill-equipped.

Jagadish Reddy, a member of the Bellandur and Varthur lake rejuvenation initiative, said that incidents of fire at the lakes have increased since mid February.

"The cause of fire is the presence of grass, garbage and other inflammable materials dumped in the peripheries of the lake outside the buffer zone. The miscreants lit fire to the garbage. There are people in nearby slums and men and material engaged in de-silting of the lakes. Such incidents would expose them to grave danger. We need our marshals equipped to douse fire at source. We urge the authorities to act immediately and provide basic equipment to them," he said. There have been a series of incidents of fire near the periphery of the water bodies. In most of the cases garbage burning has been suspected to be the major cause.