Bengaluru citizens confused about who’s in charge of lake supervision

Bengaluru: With the establishment of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and five municipal corporations, the supervision and development of lakes has been moved under the authority of the respective ward engineers. 

This has created confusion among the public, and many do not know who to reach out to file complaints. 

A JCB recently entered the Vidyaranyapura Lake area, and workers announced that the BWSSB was taking up construction and the area had to be cleared. “We did not know whom to contact then. We had to contact several officials and then even contact the BWSSB to stop the works,” said Ramprasad V of the Friends of Lakes. 

Similar is the case at many other lakes where regular walkers and lake activists have been struggling to reach the relevant officers to address the issues. 

“There was a lot of confusion initially, and even now, there is some. We have been reaching out to the commissioner for all the issues at the lakes,” said Balaji Raghotham Bali, a lake activist. 

Activists said ward engineers might not be able to handle the supervision of lakes, and there was a need to change the system. “Not all officials can understand how lakes need to be handled. That requires some understanding of the ecology and the environment,” Ramprasad said. 

Bali pointed out that ward engineers were already burdened with a heavy workload and may find it difficult to take care of lakes. 

“Also, there is a need to deal with a lot of other departments, such as the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the stormwater drains department, since they are closely related to lakes. Hence, we suggest that the GBA set up a centralised lakes department so that the issues are handled,” he said. 

Ramprasad suggested a department at each corporation could do the job. 

“At the corporation level, they can constitute a department to handle parks, lakes and the greenery. This way, all environment-related activities can be monitored by one dedicated department,” he said.