Bengaluru: The rain has brought in much joy for the Bangaloreans, who were reeling under the burning hot sun a while back. But Not everybody is rejoicing the coming of the rains it seems. The residents living around the Varthur and Bellandur lake are paying the price of government apathy towards these lakes.

The toxic froth has returned with the heavy rains and thunderstorms. “Ideally, rains should be a good news for most of us, but for us, who live near the lake, it is a terrible time. The frothing increases with the increase in flow. It stinks and is a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Don’t know when will the government and the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) wake up to the crisis,” says Rangan Srivastava, a resident near the lake. The abysmal state of the lakes raises questions on the work done by the bodies, Lake Conservation and development Authority and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. ” I wonder if the two bodies had worked and looked for solutions, we wouldn’t have seen these days.

Bangalore has a Kashmir now, and the frothing is the ‘new beauty’,” he says it sarcastically.

Most residents and environmentally conscious citizens maintain their grievance is always met with promises, but they are unfulfilled. And when the frothing happens, then it makes way in the social media, in the form of tweets and memes, but in all times, this is badly neglected. “Mind you, Varthur and Bellandur are not the only two lakes affected, now even Huvinane and Subramanyapura lakes are marching the same way,” says Debadrita Mukherjee, Environmentalist.

The key to the revival of this dying lake is to take some obvious steps. The solutions lie in the problems itself. “ The most obvious problem surrounding the lake is the unauthorised dumping of municipal solid waste and building debris.The solution is to ban Phosphates in detergents and mandate a laboratory tested life by when detergent should be decomposed naturally.”

Also, “Encroachments near storm water drains are also problematic. Reestablishing wetlands is a part of the solution,” says Snehalata Jain, Microbiologist who writes extensively on environmental issues.