Tearful tale of Bengaluru's lakes

If we go around our city of joy, Bengaluru, we can see residential layouts and housing complexes named Lake City, Lake View, and Lake Retreat and so on. However, one wonders why the name.

Those who have made Bengaluru home must know at least a few things about this city. The Kaveri water came to Bengaluru in the late sixties. Kaveri has to travel miles and miles, climbing several miles up to reach the city. Before Kaveri, the Tippagondanahalli reservoir was our lifeline. The barbaric sound of digging bore wells was unheard of until the 2000s, and water tankers were hard to see. Very few BWSSB water tankers were supplying the needy localities. Kaveri water was not supplied to many localities in the initial stages, and CMC water connection was the lifeline.

Lakes play a big part in the city’s history. Bengaluru stands on a firm base of hard stones and marbles, and an underground water reserve. The lakes are many: Hebbal Lake, Jakkarayanakere, Dharmambhudi Lake, Sampangi Tank, Ulsoor Lake, Lalbagh Lake, Kempambhudi Lake, Sarakki Lake, and innumerable lakes like Arakere, Hulimavu, Byrasandra, Madiwala, Agara.

In between, there are many small ponds unaccounted for. Thus we have a huge list of lakes and ponds around the city. The speciality of these water bodies is their undying bonding. When a heavy downpour overflows a particular lake, the excess water flows through a designated channel to the next nearby lake. An intriguing, yet very practical science, indeed.

What I have narrated is now history. Noted Kannada film lyricist C V Shivashankar explains the growth of the city in his lyric ‘Beledide Noda Bengaluru Nagara...’ written decades ago. By that time, the Dharmambhudi Lake at the heart of the city had dried up and the sprawling space became a consumer exhibition ground for decades, called ‘Congress Exhibition’. A part of the area was used by circus companies, especially during summer vacation. The Kannada social dramas presented by veteran Master Hiranniah under the banner Hirannaya Mitra Mandali were played here. For the past two decades, this has become the heart of our public transport system.

The Sampangi tank has made way for Kanteerava Stadium. Sankey Tank, Lalbagh, Ulsoor Tank still look like tanks. The Kempambudhi Tank at Gavipuram is now a small basin filled with multi-coloured water. The Bellandur Tank is notorious for industrial effluents and booming white foam. The rehabilitation of many tanks, much-heard in news, in reality, is nothing in practice.

Patches of water are an oasis in Bengaluru’s concrete forest. Heavy rains easily flood the city while the pouring rainwater is made to forget its natural route and flows onto the land. With all the sins in our pail, we curse the rain god.