BENGALURU: The rejuvenation of Sarjapur’s Kaikondrahalli lake in 2010 restored hope for the last surviving 34 lakes in the city. However, it is not easy to maintain this lake in south-east Bengaluru. Construction debris keeps getting dumped into its waters and funds for its upkeep constantly fall short.
But it has its champions and among them is Pushpa Krishna who says that she started running at 50 years thanks to the lake. Today, at 52, she has completed a 42-km marathon in Mumbai along with three others from her neighbourhood.
“I was never a runner,” says Pushpa. “I started running because I moved to this place and there was this lake beside my house. I started going for walks and eventually the walks turned into short runs. Ever since, my love for running has only increased and this (in Mumbai) was my first long marathon... I dedicate this run to the lake because I am running because of it.” “A lot of people know that I run,” she says, “but they don’t know where I started.” There were questions about starting to run after 50. “A lot of people keep asking me if I my knees hurt because of my age,” she says, “but my running could help dispel such notions.” The Mumbai Marathon went well, she says, adding, “The weather was humid so we struggled a bit.”
Runners’ Lake
A week ago, at her neighbourhood’s annual fundraiser Kere Habba festival, she had run with the same three to spread awareness about sustainability and conservation. The other three – Padma Srinivas and her husband Srinivas Sampath, and Rinaz Mohammad – too say that living by the lake is how they started on or stuck with running. Padma is a marathon runner and she started by slow jogging around the Kaikondrahalli lake two years ago.
“I grew passionate about running and then got into volunteering to maintain the lake,” says Padma. Her husband, Srinivas Sampath, who also participated in the marathon, took his first running steps in the area around the lake. Rinaz Mohammad, the final participant, says that for as long as he has been a runner, he has been running at the lake. Without the lake there is no other place in the city to train for runners, he adds.
“Our run is dedicated to the lake” says Padma, who is also a trustee of Mahadevpura Parisara Samrakshane Mattu Abhivrudhi Samiti (MAPSAS).
MAPSAS is a community-oriented organisation formed by the citizens to take up lake maintenance. The members of the trust worked together with the BBMP in 2008 to revive the lake. The marshland turned into a lush leisure spot with 48 acres brimming with water, attracting over 50 species of birds and reptiles. All the four had opened a fundraiser each, with varying targets, on Milaap. The total target was Rs 4.5 lakh. Pushpa’s target was the highest at Rs 1.5 lakh and she had raised Rs 1.4 lakh in a few days. “I got lucky because my family and friends from the US have been donating,” she says. The proceeds will go to the upkeep projects of the lake. The lake does not receive funds from the BBMP.