NEW DELHI:Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar demanded an audit by the Environment Ministry to look into lakeside structures and buildings and imposition of strict penalties on real estate firms violating environment guidelines.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Chandrasekhar pointed out that there was a “growing risk to environmentally sensitive areas like lakes and valley zones in Bengaluru due to rampant real-estate projects and increasing pollution due to untreated sewage”. He said the city depended on a network of lakes and underground water sources.
“However, commercial developments have encroached on or are coming up near many of these lakes, including the recent shameful example of the Varthur Lake where rampant effluent discharge caused the lake to overflow on to the roads,” he said in Rajya Sabha.
The MP called on the Ministry to conduct a study of compliance of environmental conditions of development projects along lakes, check their pollution levels, and find the causes for rising pollution.
He said action had to be taken against negligent government officials too.