When it rains, the Varthur lake starts frothing within two days.

The government wants to handover the lakes to the Minor Irrigation department, which specialises at a different level. It lacks the capacity to handle real problems such as the sewage flow into the lake, encroachment by realestate developers,and solid waste management and debris dumping into the lake.

Abolishing Lake Conservation & Development Authority will be disastrous as lakes will now be dubbed tanks and outside NGT’s jurisdiction

Many lake activists, guardians and lake groups have written multiple letters and signed petitions asking the government not to go ahead with the move

Minor Irrigation Department officials insist that local bodies such as BBMP and BDA will remain custodians of city lakes.

According to BBMP data, the Palike has custody of 60 lakes, BDA has 123, KLCDA has four, Forest Department has five and Minor Irrigation has 18 lakes. However,only 34 are recognized as live lakes.

A road built by the department to aid the Minor Irrigation Department’s pipeline project has taken overmuch of the Rajakaluve, the critical canal linking Bellandur lake with Varthur lake. Much of this canal now stands filled with construction debris and mud. Adjacent to the STP, the canal width has been reduced to a few feet. Photos by Jishnu EN