Citizens cheer as BBMP drops controversial roadwork on Hosakerehalli lake

In a damage-control exercise, the BBMP on Thursday promised to clear truckloads of mud and debris it dumped into Hosakerehalli lake in the last four months. The civic body has been under increasing pressure to stop the roadwork planned through the lake.

BBMP Special Commissioner (Projects) P M Ravindra told reporters that he had directed engineers to remove the mud immediately and restore the 59-acre lake to its original condition.

“We will start the work of removing the debris and mud immediately. It is our responsibility to protect the lakes. This lake will remain a lake,” he said.

Also Read | BBMP changes explanation on dumping mud into Hosakerehalli lake

Ravindra and senior officials visited the lake to prepare a ground report on the nature of the work being carried out by the various departments of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) at RR Nagar’s major water source.

On March 21, DH had reported the mysterious work happening at Hosakerehalli lake and ran a second report calling the BBMP’s bluff as the civic bodied desperately tried to cover up the roadwork.

The civic body said four works are being undertaken at the Hosakerehalli lake — widening the Hosakerehalli road next to the lake by the BBMP’s road infrastructure division, building a retaining wall to protect the lake from garbage dumping, and construction of a sewage diversion drain. What alarmed citizens was the fourth work — building of a road that split the lake into two.

Joseph Hoover, a conservationist in RR Nagar, was delighted with the BBMP’s decision. He said the civic body must remove the mud entirely from the lake before the monsoon.

Though the BBMP has been dumping several hundred truckloads of mud into the lake since December, the issue grabbed the public’s attention only this week as Hoover, a former journalist, shared a video clip showing the BBMP using hydraulic machines and earthmovers to compact the mud to form a road through the lake.