BENGALURU: After 30 years, Varthur Lake's bed is visible. Residents living in and around the area have been fighting to save the lake for years now, and hope that the National Green Tribual's (NGT) direct to the state government to come up with a time-bound plan to check industrial pollutants from entering the lake works.However, C Yatiraju, a lake expert, says that not much can be done to revive Varthur Lake because the land cover there has been drastically altered over the years.
Catchment encroached by concrete jungle
Yatiraju says that Varthur Lake is deteriorating day-by-day, and that the investments and efforts being made to revive the lake might be in vain."About 20 years back, there weren't so many buildings. There were fields and gardens, and fresh water streams and nalas that flowed into the lake. Now, none of those exist. Even the rainwater that flows into the lake comes from the roads, and stormwater drains are filled with garbage," he says.
The tank cannot respire he says, adding that because the price of land around Varthur Lake are very high, and that commercialization will always take priority over the welfare of the lake.
‘Lakes are living entities’
"We have to treat a lake as a living entity, which thrives when the other aspects that make it respire vanish, how can we expect it to survive? These aspects I mentioned are natural streams, nalas and vegetation," says Yatiraju.Talking about the flora and fauna that thrived at Varthur Lake before its rapid degradation, Yatiraju says, "Earlier, migratory birds could be found flying in, the lake was used for fishing purposes, but now, the only creatures one can find there are those that are capable of surviving under these poor conditions.
‘We offered Pooja to lake’
Jagdish Reddy has lived on the banks of Vathur Lake all his life, and says that he has seen it drastically change over the last 20 years."The lake was used by the dwellers for all purposes - irrigation, farming, grazing cattle and fishing. In the last 20 years, sewage water coming in from other lakes, especially Bellandur Lake, has polluted it. Toxic waste from different plants has also contributed to its degradation," says Reddy, adding that the water was fresh and clear earlier, but slowly algae started forming, plants started dying and the lake started to smell."A lot of our festivals revolved around the lake, we would consider it our God. Now we don't do Pooja to it anymore. Even the small swimming competitions and boat festivals stopped, " says the activist, adding that people had to figure out alternative livelihoods when the lake started to deteriorate.
‘Water leads to skin itches’
Umesh N, who is from a family of farmers, says that his earliest memories of the lake was when he learnt how to swim there, as his family practised farming in the lands around the lake. He has lived at the banks of the lake for forty years now.“Our family has left cultivation now, our lands are vacant. There is only one foot of water right now and three-four feet of silt and debris,” he says, adding that water condition has been so bad for the last few years, that it is impossible to enter the lake.
“If you touch the water, your hands will smell from the foul odour that comes from the lake. Our skin also itches when we make contact with the water.”
Umesh says that it is very hard for common people like him to do anything to revive the lake. Reddy adds that for the last twelve years, he has been running pillar to post in attempts to save the lake, and that they still haven't lost hope. “We had 350-400 meetings last year, but whatever action is happening in reality is very scant. Every day, we ask different officials to help and give updates, but all in vain. Whatever the NGT wanted is not happening," says Reddy."If the sewage water is stopped from entering, the lake is desilted, is waste from both small and big-scale industries is kept in check and people move to using organic products for cleaning, the lake can be revived," he adds.
‘Could find 36 varieties of fish’
When he was growing up, Reddy says that they could find 36 varieties of fish, and the entire community would fish there. "Native varieties such as flatfish, rohu and Katla could be found in the lake, now none of these can be found. Some imported breeds, like the African Catfish, survived in the lake.”
‘Max number of Eurasian Coots were found here’
Reddy says that migratory birds from Siberia and Ukraine would come to Varthur Lake. Ornithologist Ullas Anand says that Varthur Lake had paddy fields all around it, and that this was the lake that recorded the most number of Eurasian Coots here. "Our waterbird census from between 1988-1999 indicated 800-900 Eurasian Coots at Varthur Lake - the most number in the city. However, when we surveyed the lake again starting from 2015, these numbers had fallen by 98%, and the numbers are abysmal now across Bengaluru," he says. "There's a huge difference between Bangalore and Bengaluru, and that difference is visible through the various bird problems, as they are bio-indicators. All waterbird species numbers have gone down drastically," adds Anand.