Nandita is happy to write about a "Lake Restored" in Kyalasanahalli, now part of Bengaluru

Nandita's father sent me this reassuring article she wrote for her school project. This was in response to my blog on lakes.

"A few weeks ago, I asked 8-year-old Nandita to do some research on her own on restoring lakes. I sent her some papers to get her started. She did the general and specific research and wrote this article, complete with before and after photos and her own painting of lake restoration." 

Nandita has done an excellent job of relating the saga of Bengaluru lakes. The way existing lakes, planned by our earlier generation of visionaries, mostly man-made, were allowed to be destroyed by the shortsightedness of citizens who inherited them. 

I clearly remember an elderly uncle justifying the conversion of lakes. "Half the time they are dry, not maintained and a breeding place for mosquitoes!" This is how we missed the real issues. Instead of seeking long term solutions and fixing responsibility on the municipality; we let them get away with their destructive actions.

Nandita's article  is a required reading for us. Not just to appreciate it. It is also to see how well she has summarized it with a call for right action and the need for citizens to become vigilant.

 I believe the citizens around the Kyansanahalli lake saw builders surveying the lake and took action! All credit to them and the business community which pitched in!

    A LAKE RESTORED!!! 

By Nandita 

Lakes are dying faster than one can imagine. All of us must take part in helping our lakes! It is a gift that God himself created for us! We would not want to lose it, correct?

Bangalore, a great example for this topic, earlier had 262 lakes and sadly and so quickly now less than 50 lakes are there. This is because of sewage waste clogging inlets and even water that is going through is getting polluted. And lakes start stinking. Then, the water table starts to fall, leading to scarcity of water. Finally dying lakes end up becoming flat land, so selfish builders take over the land and build apartments.

I have been living in Bangalore for the last three months. Now, I will tell you a story about a 36- acre lake, the Kyalasanahalli Lake, next to our Villa complex that was restored thanks to the efforts of citizens and local companies who approached the Lake Development Authority and revived this lake which had been dying for the last 35 years!

In order to remove all the silt and mud, they used earth-moving machines and with the mud they made five islands and then unclogged all the inlets so fresh-water could be recharged. And so, in the next rainy season more water came, and in the lake was 20 feet deep. A small road was created around the lake boundary. As part of the lake restoration, they planted 18,000 saplings, 3,000 fruit trees of 22 varieties, 3,000 native species of plants, and 2,000 medicinal plants. It has become a nesting home for birds and butterflies. There are lots of activities too! People come for jogging, nature walks, fishing, bird watching and there is a playground for kids nearby!

This is soon becoming a tourist attraction. I hope more lakes across the country get restored. And remember this is a project that us citizens and not just companies should be passionate about.

The article below by K V Aditya Bharadwaj, published by The Hindu gives us hope and also reminds us of the enormity of the work and the effort and commitment needed for the rejuvenation of lakes. 

There is fresh hope for lakes in the city, with the State government announcing a Re.348-crore package for the development and rejuvenation of 59 lakes over the next three years.

The package is part of the Re. 8,015-crore special assistance for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) announced in the State Budget presented on Friday. The civic body will receive ₹2,300 crore during 2019–20 (to be spent over three years) of which ₹250 crore is earmarked for lakes.

Welcoming the special grant, lake conservation activists sounded caution not to squander away what could be a one-time fixing of most parts of the lake ecosystem in the city, if done right. Some rejuvenated lakes in north Bengaluru — Rachenahalli and Jakkur lakes — are a lesson as to what could go wrong, they said, as the two waterbodies are now polluted with sewage.

Some of the lakes to be rejuvenated

• Malathahalli, Hosakerehalli, Mathikere, Halagevaderahalli, Nagarabhavi, Kalkere Rampura, Hosakere Halekere, Nagasandra, Doddakallasandra, Gunjur Palya, Basavanapura, Gubbalala, Gowdanapalya, Konappana Agrahara lakes

“Lakes are not about the lakebed alone: they are about clean water, for which the veins and nerves (storm-water drains and inlets) need to be taken care of to prevent inlet of any sewage. Unless this is ensured, rejuvenation is likely to turn into a cyclical project like repairing potholed roads,” said V. Ramprasad, convener, Friends of Lakes.

Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has set a deadline of 2020 to completely operationalise 28 sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the city, which will have the capacity to treat 1,470 MLD of sewage. “Theoretically, a capacity to treat 1,470 MLD will ensure all sewage the city produces is treated. If the rejuvenation of these lakes and the operationalisation of the STPs is coordinated, we will probably be looking at a best-case scenario for the city lakes in the recent history,” said water conservationist S. Vishwanath.

However, Mr. Vishwanath said a few more interventions were essential to prevent repeated degradation of these lakes once rejuvenated. “The BWSSB must work towards covering the entire catchment area of the lakes with underground drainage system, so that there is no direct inlet of untreated sewage into the lakes, which is mostly the case presently in 110 villages [that were added to the BBMP limits in 2007]. The design of development of these lakes must include wetlands at the inlet points to naturally treat unaccounted sewage,” he said.

Preventing sewage entry

The budget also allocates ₹76.55 crore over the next two years for projects to prevent sewage from entering storm-water drains (SWDs) at 914 entry points, which would also go a long way in preventing inlet of untreated sewage into the lakes, activists said.

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad told The Hindu that the civic body would soon invite tenders to rope in consultants to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the rejuvenation of all the 59 lakes, following which these DPRs have to be cleared by the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority, which will ensure a co-ordinated effort from the BBMP and the BWSSB regarding each lake.

₹500 crore transferred to escrow account for Bellandur, Varthur lake development

The State government has transferred ₹500 crore into an escrow account in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for development of Bellandur and Varthur lakes in accordance with the recent National Green Tribunal (NGT) order.

The NGT also appointed a committee, led by the former Supreme Court judge N. Santosh Hegde, to oversee the implementation of the order and fix accountability for any failure. The committee has already held two meetings, and Mr. Hegde told The Hindu that he would conduct a spot inspection of the two lakes on February 17.

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said all agencies would submit action plans for their respective roles before the committee and they would be put up on a dedicated website that would be opened for public consultation.

However, lake conservation activists have raised objections to all ₹500 crore being used on Bellandur and Varthur lakes. “Bellandur lake turning a cesspool of sewage is not an isolated problem that can be tackled at the lake. It is an upstream problem and water from 43 upstream lakes eventually comes to Bellandur lake. Unless the upstream problem is solved and sewage at these lakes is treated, whatever we pour into Bellandur lake will go down the drain,” said lake conservationist S. Vishwanath.

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