Encroachments, lack of fencing & foul stench anger legislators during visit to 4 lakes in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The legislative standing committee on Local Bodies and Panchayat Raj inspected the Yele Mallappa Chetty, Varthur, Bellandur and Agara lakes to assess the ground reality. 

The committee members were taken aback not just by rampant encroachments on the waterbodies, the absence of fencing and the flow of sewage, but also by the stench. 

Headed by Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad, the committee had MLAs LA Ravi Subramanya, Harish Poonja and GK Venkatashiva Reddy, and MLCs Govindaraju and Shashikala Jolle. 

At Yele Mallappa Chetty Lake in Medahalli, the committee found that while the 9.5-km lake boundary was fenced, about 4.5 km was open, leading to encroachments and illegal dumping of debris and garbage. The committee members instructed the minor irrigation department to complete a survey within 10 days and fence the waterbody with police help. 

The committee chairman noted that a private layout had built a road by encroaching upon the lake area. He instructed the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to review its plan. The members also inspected the sewage treatment plant near the lake which, they felt, was not adequate enough to handle the quantum of sewage. 

The team later visited Varthur Lake where it found sewage entering the waterbody.

Upon learning that the BDA was planning to transfer the lake's custody to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the committee instructed the BDA to first complete its mandate — de-silting the lake — before handing it over to the BBMP. They also took the BDA to task for not ensuring cleanliness around the lake boundary. 

The committee also observed that the lake had not seen any visible improvements despite the BDA pumping hundreds of crores of rupees in the name of developing the waterbody. Some lake activists suggested that Lokayukta probe into irregularities, if any. 

The members later visited Bellandur Lake where about 80 per cent of the silt has been removed. They were happy with the way Agara lake has been developed.