The city of Bengalooru had plenty of lakes earlier. Unfortunately due to lack of concern and unabashed greed, a lot of them are extinct now. Lakes are a very important aspect in the over all water management for a city like Bengalooru. (Some rivers were flowing through the city of Bangalore, I believe). The city is far from being drinking water sustainable on its own as we have to depend on river Kavery which is far off.
Bengalooru is not as fortunate as, for example, Mumbai which has a heavy rainfall in comparison of that of Bengalooru. Mumbai has most of its drinking water needs met by these lakes. One example coming to my mind is the Powai Lake, where the IIT is situated, in Mumbai.
Our state government has created yet another “Authority” as late as the year 2002. An Overview of the lake system of Bangalore city as per the official site is available in the web site of the authority.
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“
Deeply concerned with the unchecked deterioration of lakes in and around Bangalore and conscious of their critical role in maintaining healthy environs and recharging of ground
water,
Lake Development Authority was created vide Government Order No. FEE/12/ENG/02, Bangalore, Dated. 10th July 2002. It would be a registered society under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1959 and it would be a non-profit organization working solely for the regeneration and conservation of lakes in and around Bangalore city within BMRDA jurisdiction in the first instance would be extended to other parts of Karnataka subsequently.”
The Authority has published a list of seven lakes to be Developed/Operated and Maintained/Transfer
List of Lakes to be Developed/Operated and Maintained/Transfer
|
Sl. No |
Name of the lakes |
Approx. Area |
Location |
|
1 |
Puttenahalli (J.P.Nagar) Lake |
5.67 |
Located south-east of Bangalore, at a distance of 2km from Puttenahalli village. |
|
2 |
Alahalli Lake |
6.13 |
Located in the interior area near Alahalli and west of Bannerghatta road. |
|
3 |
Kyalasanahalli lake, Bangalore |
14.50 |
Located towards Right side of Hosur road, Behind M/s Biocon Ltd., near Kyalasanahalli village of Anekal Taluk |
|
4 |
Chickvaderapura Lake |
1.88 |
Lake is located near Chickvaderapura village, Sarjapura Road, |
|
5 |
Vibhuthipura Lake |
14.83 |
The tank is located in the interior and north of HAL industrial area, near Vibhuthipura |
|
6 |
Kittaganoor Lake |
10.22 |
The lake is located near Kittaganoor Lake, Bidarahalli Hobli, |
|
7 |
Bhattarahalli Lake |
7.32 |
The lake is located near Bhattara halli , Bidarahalli Hobli, |
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It is as important, or more so, to prevent pollution of ground water as it is to preserve these lakes. Bengalooru gets a rainfall of say about 20” per annum. Then the pure water available to a square kilo meter area is about 5 million liters per annum. We should plan our drinking water within these means for example.
As a first step for a comprehensive plan for lakes of Bengalooru I have made a list of lakes about 48 of them as shown below:
Abbigere, Akshya Nagara, Agara, Avala Halli, Anchepalya, Attur, Begur, Bagmane, Bellandur, Binnamangala, Chikkabanavara,
Daddabommasandra, Devasandra, Doddabidirakallu, Doddanekundi, Dubasipalya, Garve Bhavi Palya, Gottigere, Hebbal,
Hesaraghatta, Hessarghatt, Hormavu Agara, Hoskere, Jakkur, Madivala, Hullimavu, HosKere, Kalena Agrahara, Kagdassapura,
Kelagiankare, LB SastriNagar, Matti Kere, Puttanahalli, Sankey, Kegeri Kere, Kengeri Kere, Komghatta, Madivala, Meenakshi,
Ullal, Singasandra, Varthur, Ulsoor, Veerasagara, Yelahanka, x1-big, x2-small,x-3-4-5 small,
There is a danger of some of these lake areas being encroached upon. I have visited Bellandur lake area. The water is totally polluted and devoid of any living organisms. I propose to go around Belandur lake shortly to scout the whole area. According to my information Rotary club is thinking of adopting Belandur Lake. It is a pity that an organization like Rotary club has to come forward to absolve oureleccted government’s misdeeds.
Note: To be continued in part II as part I has become lenghy.
PSA
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the vanishing blues..
It really pains to see the state of lakes in bangalore and the loss of these lakes at an accelerating pace. I would make one correction in your openning statement though -> " Unfortunately due to lack of concern and unabashed greed, a lot of them are extinct now."
The one thing that folks don't realize is that lack of concern and unabashed greed are present in all corners of the globe be it an advanced developed country like UK,Japan, US, Austrlia etc. or even the most underdeveloped country like Nigeria, Congo etc. On careful analysis..after visiting some of the developed countries I have concluded that what separates the developed countries is how they manage that greed and lack of concern. What separates them from the rest of the crowd are rules, regulations and enforcement.
The current sorry state of lakes in Bangalore is no different than the sorry state - of infrastructure, unplanned growth, general lack of civic cleanliness in the city etc...lack of accountability, lack of sense of duty and lack of enforcement. To understand sorry state of the lakes today one has to really question how we have managed to systematically dismantle and destroy the lake systems that our ancestors had carefully planned and implemented over centuries. One has to understand who (and the bigger questions of how and why) authorized construction of the present Majestic Bus Stand over Dharmabudhi lake; construction of Kantheerava stadium on the erstwhile Sampangi lake...the names of lakes I had never heard about till my 70year old father inlaw educated me about the geography of early bangalore which was very beautiful about 50 years ago.
By reading this article, it really pains one to read about how we have systematically destroyed our environs - http://bangalorebuzz.blogspot.com/2006/03/vanishing-blues.html
PS - does anybody have photos of the majestic area with the Dharmabudhi lake before the Kempegowda bus stand was built? I relly cannot imagine a beutiful lake in place of the current bus stand so I would like to see it for myself in the form of a photo if possible.
Thanks blrpraj for the Deccan Herald Link
I was really moved to read the Vanishing blues article of “Sights Sounds and Smell from Bangalore”. You have hit the nail on the head “Rules, Regulations and enforcement”. Thank you indeed for your comments.
I am with you when you say that the phenomenon of greed is not with us the Indians, alone. It is a trait in all the gods’ creations. In general what we are talking about is survival of the fittest. However the human race sitting at the top of the god’s creation should prove itself better than the mere lowly creations of the almighty. In this connection I would like to focus on the story of Kalidasa who was once caught cutting the branch of a tree on which he was sitting. Our Indian Folk lore is rich with such pithy anecdotes.
Now this brings me to the point which you wished to make rather in a defeatist attitude. What we need a government who means business. Minimize corruption mainly of the mind.
By not Voting we are murdering democracy. By not spreading literacy we are not carrying enough people with us to higher levels of being human. Achieving these two goals should be more fundamental in our perspective, I think.
I wish to ask is it impossible to claim the Kempambudhi lake back? Let us close the bus stand. We do not require it. Let it be below the Bangalore Railway station! Let us plan in all seriousness a better drinking water management.
PSA
Ground water is not replacment