Cattle carcasses found in Yele Mallappa Shetty Lake, residents perplexed

The sighting of four cattle carcasses in the Yele Mallappa Shetty Lake on Monday morning shocked activists and local residents.

Over the last two decades, the lake — spread over 508 acres and 16 guntas — has not only been encroached upon, but has been used as a dumpyard for the city’s garbage and sewage.

Named after the person who donated most of his land for the formation of the waterbody, Yele Mallappa Shetty Lake was once the source of water for several villages.

“We recovered the carcass of one cow in the morning with the help of an excavator and buried it nearby. But three others were still floating. I have never seen so many carcasses in these waters,” said Balaji Raghotham Baali, an activist.

He said work to rejuvenate the lake has been undermined due to a lack of enforcement.

“A group of volunteers planted 500 saplings in 2019. We were beginning to see them grow. Within weeks, they were buried under construction debris dumped in the middle of the night,” he said.

DH reached out to the BBMP’s animal husbandry department over the issue.

Assistant Director Dr Mahmood Abbas said the department will look into the matter to understand the cause of death of the cattle.