Bengaluru has 75 dirty lakes, but BBMP to develop only 8

Eight undeveloped lakes filled with hyacinth and sewage could come to life as the BBMP has planned to develop them “comprehensively”.

After a long gap, the lakes department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has received a special grant of Rs 42 crore to rejuvenate eight out of the 75 undeveloped lakes across the city.

Six of these lucky lakes are Vengaianha Kere in KR Puram (Rs 8 crore), Hulimavu Lake (Rs 8 crore), Nayandahalli Lake (Rs 7.5 crore), Kaigondanahalli Lake (Rs 4.85 crore), Amruthahalli Lake (Rs 4 crore) and Kengeri Lake (Rs 4 crore). The civic body has also earmarked Rs 2.66 crore for providing wetlands at Rachenahalli Lake and another Rs 2.84 crore for constructing a sewage treatment plant and inlet at Benniganahalli Lake.

The lake rejuvenation is being funded by the 15th Finance Commission, a BBMP official said.

“We have prepared the detailed project reports (DPRs) and all the preliminary work has been completed. Tenders for the rejuvenation work will be invited in one or two weeks,” the official added.

This is the first time in the last two years that the BBMP’s lakes department has received such a large grant.

When B S Yediyurappa was the chief minister, he had sanctioned Rs 130 crore for the development of 25 city lakes. Of them, the BBMP has fully rejuvenated nine lakes and completed 85 per cent of the works on the rest. The whole project is expected to complete by the end of 2022.

Besides large-scale lake projects, the BBMP has also been taking up minor and recurring works — mainly removing hyacinth and garbage lying around the waterbodies — using its own funds.

At least 75 lakes in various parts of Bengaluru remain undeveloped owing to a lack of funds.

The BBMP, which got custody of most of these lakes from the Bangalore Development Authority a few years ago, can’t do much because it is fully dependent on state government funds.

‘Same lakes getting grants repeatedly’

V Ramaprasad, the convener of the voluntary group Friends of Lakes, has complained that the same set of lakes are getting grants again and again. “There are many lakes that have not been fenced. The BBMP’s first priority should be to save lakes from encroachments,” he said.

According to Ramaprasad, the civic body’s approach to lake rejuvenation isn’t systematic. “A lot of money is being spent on rejuvenating Bellandur and Varthur lakes while upstream lakes have been ignored. Such an arbitrary approach will only make lake rejuvenation wasteful,” he said.

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