Probe, act against higher officials

The BBMP has suspended two engineers for facilitating construction of a road through the 57-acre Hosakerehalli lake by dumping truckloads of mud into it. The suspension and disciplinary action against the two officers, H S Megha, executive engineer (solid waste management), and Shilpa, assistant engineer (lakes), came on the directions of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru in-charge minister. A DH report in March had exposed a BBMP bid to build a road right through the middle of the lake, and in the direction of an apartment complex. Curiously, even as public outrage mounted over the ‘murder’ of the lake, BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath had maintained that he was not even aware of the road construction. Meanwhile, the then Horticulture Minister in the previous BJP government, Muniratna Naidu, had gone on record that the roadwork was part of an effort to re-develop the lake under the Chief Minister’s special grant. Silt which had accumulated over the past 100 years was being removed so that the water body could be revived and beautified, he had contended. Why that required tons of mud to be dumped into the lake and a road built on it remained unanswered. It also remains a mystery as to how engineer-level officials of the BBMP could initiate such a project without the knowledge of their higher-ups. Or were the latter simply turning a blind eye to it under political orders?

The claim that the lake was being re-developed seems to be a lie. According to the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority, no work pertaining to lakes, including de-weeding or de-silting, can be executed without its permission, and the BBMP had not obtained any approval to develop the Hosakerehalli lake. What is also known is that attempts had been made in the past to encroach upon the lake which receives untreated sewage from a stormwater drain (SWD) and sees continuous dumping of garbage and construction debris. In 2021, a CAG report had recorded that the SWD was re-modelled to allow the flow of sewage into the lake. Already, about seven acres of the lakebed have been encroached.

Hosakerehalli lake needs to be protected and should not be allowed to fall into the hands of the real estate mafia, as has happened to dozens of other lakes. Therefore, the action against BBMP officials involved cannot stop at making scapegoats of two mid-level officers. The government should launch a probe to find out whose orders were being followed in building the road on the lake, and who all knew and had signed off on it. They must be held accountable.