Let us look at what the media reported:
"...Fires are often sparked by deadly effluents in the lake, but this time, it was a pile of burning garbage that caused the scare." said Deccan Herald.
The Hindu newspaper quoted unnamed firemen and said " the fire originated in the thick layer of hyacinth in the lake". "...But they are clueless on what set the hyacinth on fire," added the newspaper.
The New Indian Express in a report titled, Bellandur lake spews fire, named the reasons as methane from industrial waste, solid waste and rise in ambient temperature!
At least the editorial teams must have checked how and from where a gas called methane is created.
The Financial Express went ahead and made it even worse by saying that the entire city choked because of smoke. Is it? I was feeling better yesterday after a few days of allergic rhinitis, which is common in Bengaluru.
This report has phrases and words like "illegal dumping of debris, garbage, toxic chemicals, toxic effluents". Confusion was written all over this report.
The news portal, Newsminute, has a much more sensible report on the fire. It had cited previous inspections by the state pollution control board and said that in the past methane had caused the fire in the lake.
In all these news stories, one can see unscientific expressions and factually incorrect words being used to mislead the less discernible readers. Accurate science reporting has never been the forte of Indian newspapers, but certain 'myths' need to be busted here:
Firstly, when a lake is infested with weeds like Water Hyacinth and degraded because of pollution, the oxygen levels become very less or even zero. If the depth of the lake gets reduced because of sediments or the so-called 'debris' dumped, Methane gas builds up because of anaerobic conditions and it can start a fire. If anything else caused the fire, including human mischief, only an official probe will reveal it.
The weed growth in the lake is because of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from domestic and industrial waste. The weed makes the lake more and more anaerobic, meaning it blocks free flow of oxygen to lower levels of the lake. The lower depths of the lake, including the sediment, becomes anaerobic, leading to build up of gases like methane and hydrogen sulphide. When it rains, the phosphate in the lake creates the froth. Gases and the degraded lake create the foul smell and the polluted groundwater poses risk to all life.
Secondly, all industrial effluents are not 'toxic' or 'deadly'. The word, toxic, has a very clear definition. Reporters must check the usage of these words. Similarly, what is this 'debris' being dumped into the lake? Sand, silt, construction waste or something else?
Bellandur Lake requires a gigantic lake restoration project, similar to the one undertaken to save Lake Erie.
Even though everybody knows the reasons behind the degradation of the lake, the problem is there is reluctance to undertake such a 'soft' project.
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