85 acres of encroached lake area cleared, claims Palike report

Of the 55 lakes covering a total of 2,088 acres that are under the custody of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), 149 acres have been encroached upon, claims a BBMP report on lake restoration that was released earlier this month.

The report also claims that 85 acres of encroached lake areas have already been cleared.

The form of encroachments identified in the report includes urbanisation in catchment areas, inflow of sewage into lakes and dumping of solid waste into them.

The study also highlights some of the areas the Palike is currently working on to rejuvenate lakes. These include fencing of the water bodies, preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs) for the comprehensive and phased development of lakes involving processes such as diversion of sewage, improvement of inlets and construction of catchwater drains, to name a few.

Infrastructural developments around lakes such as walkways and provision for idol immersion in tanks have also been envisaged.

A status report shows that while 21 of the 55 water bodies under the BBMP have already been developed, work on 28 is in progress. Kaigondanahalli Lake, Dorekere, Vasanthapura Lake and Puttenahalli Lake are some of the water bodies that have been developed. Work on Kasavanahalli Lake, Bangalore East Lake and Shilavanthana Lake in Whitefield is being carried out, it said.

A total of Rs 62.16 crore has been spent so far on the development of lakes, according to the report. Tenders for Kattigenahalli Lake, Kalkere and two other lakes are in progress and DPRs on a couple of others are yet to be prepared.

Fencing of 38 lakes have been completed and work on 14 is in progress. Three lakes are yet to be fenced. A total of Rs 35.56 crore has been spent for the purpose till date.

“Some of the lakes such as Nayandahalli in Bangalore South are in a very bad shape and we are currently preparing plans for rejuvenating them as well. But the work will start in earnest only after the monsoon,” said a BBMP official.