Jakkur Lake to be surveyed for studying encroachment

The BBMP will do a survey of the Jakkur Lake to determine if there are encroachments by a private builder.

People living close to the lake have complained that the private builder is constructing a building in the lake's buffer zone, prompting Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun to inspect the waterbody on Thursday.

In a letter to the BBMP commissioner, the mayor asked him to depute the revenue DC to do the survey and determine whether the private construction is an encroachment on the lake and whether it would harm the waterbody.

During the inspection, residents living near the lake complained that the sewage water from the treatment plant is allowed into the borewells in the area.

Manjunath (name changed) said: "Construction activities are going on for the past couple of weeks inside the lake's buffer zone limits. Officials need to check if NGT rules are violated." He also said the sewage water coming out of the STP unit is mixing with the borewell water. "The sewage water is entering homes," he added.

After listening to the complaints, the mayor said it is not clear whether the NGT rules are violated due to the lake's current situation.

"The Bangalore Development Authority handed over the lake to the Palike in 2015 after development works. Also, 41 of 161 acres was handed over to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board to build the STP and to create wetland," she said.

"There's no clarity on the buffer zone rules on BWSSB. The building work is right now taking place at the area handed over to the BWSSB. I’ll hold a meeting with both the BDA and BWSSB and resolve the issue," Gangambike assured.

Deputy Mayor B Bhadregowda, ruling party leader Abdul Wajid and JD(S) party leader Netra Narayan were also present during the mayor's inspection of the lake.

S Vishwanath from Biome Environmental Trust, who has worked extensively in rejuvenating the lake, said turtles were spotted in the lake a couple of months ago.

"We've used different methods over the years to improve the quality of water in the lake," he said. "This could be one of the reasons why we found the turtles. This was not there before."