A protest was  staged under the  “ Upparhalli Lake protection Samiti” on Monday morning against the conversion of the Upparhalli lake bed into a crematorium as recommended by survey number 44.  The protesters then took their  agitation to te Deputy district Commissioner office.

But what made this protest unique was that the residents decided to four legged representatives like buffaloes to make their point. The protest with their ‘moo’ing mascot started from the Shantinagar and then proceeded to the government office with painted messages on it.

The protest was led by Ramakrishnaiaha, president of the samithi and was  supported by  various  public groups and women's’ groups.

“The lake ensures the underground water levels of borewells  that provide drinking water to eight layouts in the city all year around and they want to convert it into grave yard” they said.

They also added that should the  lake be  destroyed the layouts would face severe water crisis and therefore the lake had to protected.

There are a number of institutions that line the lake perimeter including residential areas, Government hospital, temples, mosque and even government schools and colleges and student hostels. 

The agitators argued that this conversion would create  a problem for students and resident alike with the burial fumes creating a health hazard for those living around.

“ Since the lake is situated at the  centre of the  city, the fumes after burning the dead bodies will create a problem of pollution and this lake also saves us lakhs of  rupees for the Municipal in terms of water supply for the  city” they defended the lake.

They also questioned the wisdom of converting a living lake into a crematorium when people  all around were fighting to save water bodies.

 However a signatory campaign is also running many layouts to support the conversion of the lake bed into crematorium which has been released to the  news papers. As already reported the supporters of the crematorium already took out a protest on July 5 demanding the Upparhalli grave yard be supported.