BENGALURU: A hearing at the Lokayukta office over complaints of violations at seven lakes revealed the sorry state of the city’s lakes. The lakes taken up were Allasandra, Vasanthapura, Gowdanpalya, Hulimavu, Sompura, Vibhutipura and Puttenahalli lakes.
Members of United Bengaluru, an NGO, were the complainants. Every lake taken up had been encroached on and some of them were in bad shape due to effluents released into them. In some cases, there was disparity between what the officials responsible for the lake claimed and what residents around the lake stated.
For instance, at the large, 145-acre Hulimavu lake in South Bengaluru, the complainants submitted that 19 acres and 26 guntas had been encroached upon. KSPCB officials said that a proposal to develop the lake at a cost of Rs 24 crore had been sent to the state government for approval. However, Mithan Subbaiah, a resident of the area near the lake, said officials had been speaking of the proposal for the past six months with no progress in sight.
At Sompura lake in South-West Bengaluru, Nataraj, a resident claimed that the proposed STP had not been installed and a foul smell emanated from the lake. “Officials claimed that Rs 1.1 crore would be sanctioned for development works, but no steps have been taken,” he said.
Justice Shetty suggested United Bengaluru members to organise awareness programmes about lakes, with public participation. Suresh N R, Convener, United Bengaluru, said, “We will organise such a programme for citizens within a few days on how to protect and reclaim lakes. The Lokayukta too has agreed to come and speak on the issue,” he said.
In response to the complaints, Lokayukta Vishwanatha Shetty directed officials from BBMP, BWSSB and KSPCB to file a status report before the next meeting in March 2019. He also directed notices to the respective Tahsildars and ADLRs to survey the lakes, and made them respondents in the cases.