Children are up in arms to protect Hadosiddapura lake

 Basking in the winter sun, swaying to the pleasant breeze with the chirping of birds all along, a bunch of school students began their weekend with a mission to protect the nature that surrounded them.

The initiative by these students is an etho of the festival that their school had organised. 'Kere Habba' by the Prakriya Green Wisdom School, Doddakannelli, Sarjapur Road, celebrated the spirit of lakes around Bengaluru, especially the ones near the school.

The students are on a mission to revive Hadosiddapura lake, which they fear, might die a slow death.

The lake which was spread across 36-acres is believed to have shrunk to a mere 16-acres because of encroachments, say gram panchayat officials.

It is a seasonal lake with several species of fish, birds and plants thriving. The cattle egret, the Yellow-wattled lapwing and the kingfisher are most commonly found birds here. While acacia and tamarind trees are abundant, a huge eucalyptus forest is also present near the lake bed.

REVIVAL PLAN

Siddharth Kuppalli, Sabyasaachi Shenoy, Renee Ahluwalia, Kaushik Chengeri, and Neekita Raman, all 8th standard students, preparing a detailed project report (DPR) on the methods to revive the lake.

They plan to submit their  report to the gram panchayat officials for further action.

The group also demonstrated various scientific techniques and projects that the government could implement to clean or stop the rampant pollution in city lakes.

Speaking at the event, V Ramprasad, a lake conservationist, said,"We need to redefine the definition of development. Lakes form a central part of the city's existence. If we do not protect lakes, there will be no chance of surviving."