Bellandur Lake in Bangalore caught fire on Thursday and covered the city with toxic clouds, triggering panic among residents.
“Garbage and debris that are dumped in the lake caused fire,” sources said, adding,”The residents have often complained about dump waste in the lake”.
The state pollution board has also issued notices to various local bodies to stop dumping waste in the lake, according to reports.
"Usually, a pile of garbage strewn around the lake is set on fire, but yesterday (Thursday) it caused a scare among residents and motorists as the smoke started billowing and surrounding the lake in the evening," KU Ramesh, deputy director at Karnataka Fire Department, said.
Some angry residents of the city took to Twitter to express their anger at the condition of Bengaluru lakes.
“Here's a tragic sight that sums up exploitation n killing of Bengaluru,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted.
“Wake up CM of Karnataka, You guys are killing the citizens of Bangalore,” Kashyap, another Bangalore resident, wrote.
Supporting Chandrasekhar and Kashyap's concerns, another Twitteratti, Rahul Raj said, “Fire, smoke, garbage and pollution around Bellandur Lake in Bengaluru. The city used to be so clean. We have become immune to slow death”.
“That smoke is not from a forest fire or even a blast. It is a Bengaluru lake ON FIRE. AGAIN,” one resident Dhanya Rajendran tweeted.