Residents seek definite plan to revive Halasuru Lake

Hundreds of residents living in the vicinity of the Halasuru Lake have asked the people’s representatives and the civic authorities to end degradation of the city lakes. As part of their campaign to save the lake, citizens on Saturday had planned a meeting with the BJP’s candidate for the Shivajinagar Assembly Constituency and former area corporator, Saravana.

Though the residents were eager to hear Saravana’s plans to rejuvenate the lake, the candidate skipped the meeting, citing hectic election campaigning and instead sent his associate, Sundar.

Residents demanded a time-bound plan to rejuvenate the lake, insisting that they need action on the ground rather than empty promises.

“Saravana has been in this ward for more than 10 years,” local resident Hema Hattangady told DH. “The lake has deteriorated considerably in the past 10 years and is now reduced to a cesspool of sewage and floating hyacinth.

“Since he aspires to be the MLA, citizens want to know his action plan to rejuvenate the lake. We all agree that he’s aware of the issues. We wanted a commitment from him that he’d act if he’s elected to the Assembly,” Hema said.

‘Nobody cares’

The residents also lamented that despite multiple civic agencies benefiting from the lake, none of them have stopped the sewage from entering the city’s most important waterbody. “A real estate firm has come forward to maintain the lake, if the BBMP stopped untreated sewage from entering the lake. But there’s no news on the rejuvenation plans,” said another resident, Avinash. Residents held several rounds of inspections to confirm that the deteriorating condition of the lake is also impacting the ground water.