Upalokayukta's orders fail to revive Gottigere lake

The intervention of Upalokayukta Justice S B Majage does not seem to have helped in reviving the Gottigere lake on Bannerghatta Road.

The deadline set by him for the purpose is here, but no effort has been done to at least clean the decaying water body.

It continues to be a dumping ground for construction material and garbage and is full of weeds. After the residents in the locality repeatedly complained for two years, the Upalokayukta visited the lake on March 15 this year and ordered the BBMP, BDA, BWSSB and the tahsildar to take steps to revive it within two months.

According to a BDA engineer, the reason for the delay in undertaking work to revive the lake is lack of funds.

He said, “We need around Rs 8 crore to revive Gottigere lake. So far, we are only able to construct a fence around it. We have to desilt the water body, remove weeds, construct bunds, inlets and outlets, create walkway, children’s play area, a pond and a stormwater drain. But we have no funds for all of these. If we get funds, we can complete the work in 18 months”.

The official pointed out that of the 37.13 acres of Gottigere lake, 2.18 acres have been encroached upon for roads, toll roads, apartments, houses and commercial spaces. The tahsildar has not yet cleared encroachments. So it is difficult to start work, he said.

But, local residents have still not lost hope. Jayashankar R, a resident, said that they had seen the lake die gradually since 2000, but still expect the water body to be restored to its past glory.