DC orders survey of lakes in Bengaluru Urban to clear encroachments

DC J Manjunath said lakes have to be developed as permanent assets and directed the officials to identify the boundary and buffer zone of each lake

The Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban district, on Monday directed officials to conduct a survey of all lakes in the districts and identify encroachments to take measures to save the waterbodies at the earliest.

There are 806 lakes across the district, of which 204 are in the BBMP limits. The Minor Irrigation Department is in charge of 46 lakes, while the Bangalore Development Authority supervises five. The Forest Department has to look after one lake. As many as 421 lakes come under the zilla panchayat limits. However, there is no clarity on the remaining 129 lakes.

At the meeting, Deputy Commissioner J Manjunath said lakes have to be developed as permanent assets and directed the officials to identify the boundary and buffer zone of each lake. “Permission should not be given for any construction within a lake’s buffer zone. A survey should be conducted immediately. The stormwater drain supplying water to the lakes has to be identified and any encroachment should be cleared.”

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He said a timetable for the survey has to be prepared in a day. He told the panchayat raj engineering officials to survey the 129 lakes to determine which department’s jurisdiction they fall under.

Reminding officials to look at lake restoration works as part of protecting the city’s health, he said the government is reviewing work on lake development every 15 days and the work has to be expedited.

The deputy commissioner said that once the survey is completed, some of the industries can be invited to develop them under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.