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Journalism of Courage
Once a city with beautiful lakes, Bengaluru now makes headlines for deplorable condition of its water bodies, overflowing with toxic froth. As environmentalists and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) have called upon the Karnataka government to take immediate action to take care of the 262 lakes in the city, a poignant underwater photoshoot drawing attention to the gravity of the situation is going viral.
Prominent Kannada and Telugu film actor, Rashmika Mandanna, undertook a project and posed near the polluted Bellandur lake to raise awareness about water pollution in the city. Bellandur Lake, which is one of the largest in Bengaluru, has now become infamous for the gigantic clouds of froth that accumulate on its surface, spilling over into the many busy roads that skirt its shores several times a year.
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Sharing photos from the shoot on Instagram and Twitter, which depicted a woman swimming underwater surrounded with plastic packets floating around, Mandanna said the situation broke her heart.
“Well wasn’t aware of this till we had to actually go and shoot this in Bellandur lake..which like really broke my heart,and imagine few years down the line..it’s the same case everywhere else..😱 I’d rather not want to be in that space.. I just wanted to share 🤷” the model-actor wrote.
Conceptualised and directed by Sanmathi D. Prasad and photographed by visual artist Rajeev, they shot Mandanna standing against the foam-cluttered lake.
Describing the photo of the plastic-filled waterbody as “Sink”, the photographer wrote: “There is an island floating in the Pacific ocean almost as big as the size of India, just a mass garbage. Come on already! Should we just adapt and grow with pollution? Like, garbage has inevitably become a part of ecosystem. Plastic fibres are found in tap water all around the world, thousands of tons of litter end up in ocean every year, trash is being consumed by every other organism on every level of food chain. How long before it sinks in, when we are already sinking in this float.”
The photoshoot garnered a lot of attention online and got everyone talking. Many lauded the actor for willing to get into the polluted water of the lake for the cause and some were worried equally for her health.
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Last year in May, The National Green Tribunal had directed authorities to ensure closure of 76 polluting industries around Bellandur lake, however, the situation only worsened this year with repetitive spillage of toxic foam and even fire on the lake premises.
