When Mayor B S Sathyanarayana, BBMP Commissioner M Lakshminarayana and Chikpet MLA R V Devraj inspected the Kempambudhi Lake on Tuesday morning, they were greeted with residents’ cynicism after their assurances on reviving the water body.
The skepticism of the local residents springs from the fact that the civic authorities have made promises aplenty, but done little on reviving the Lake. In May 2012, the then mayor D Venkatesh Murthy and commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda inspected Kempambudhi Lake and ordered officials to develop it within three months. Not surprisingly, little happened. Residents also remembered a visit by former Mayor P R Ramesh in 2004 when the Corporation was Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP).
After Tuesday’s inspection, Mayor Sathyanarayana said sewage from nearby areas was flowing into the lake. “We have asked BWSSB to divert sewage to the sewage treatment plant. Only treated water can be let into the Lake,” he said.
Kempambudhi Lake is spread over 47.7 acres of which 4.2 acre has been encroached upon and the Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) has constructed houses on two acres. Commissioner Lakshminarayana instructed officials to take up desilting work once BWSSB completes diversion of sewage.