BBMP looks to pool in pvt funds for City lakes

The Palike will hand over the lakes to the Bangalore chapter of United Way Worldwide, under the public private partnership (PPP) model, for maintenance for a period of two years.

Not happy with the allocations in previous budgets towards the maintenance of these lakes, officials in BBMP said the PPP model will ease the burden on the Palike by nearly Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore annually per lake.

“It will ease the monetary burden on BBMP with the NGO taking care of the maintenance,” said the official. 

MNCs roped in

United Way Worldwide will take up the project with funds sourced from multinational companies as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, BBMP has said that United Way Worldwide will not directly take up the job of maintaining these lakes.

“Currently, the NGO has asked us to help them identify the service providers for the maintenance of these lakes. In future, they may even ask the local residents to join hands in maintaining the lakes as the water bodies are part of the community,” said the official.

According to officials, the NGO will act only as a ‘monetary support system’ for the maintenance of the lakes.

Periodical cleaning of the lakes, the cleaning of the pathways leading to them and providing security to the water bodies are part of the maintenance of the lakes.
Some of the lakes identified for the purpose are Tavarekere, Kaikondanahalli lake, Uttarahalli lake and Varthur lake.