BENGALURU: A group of residents in Kannamangala has given a fresh lease of life to the lake in their locality by taking up an initiative to revive the water body that had turned into a garbage dumping yard.
Kannamangala, situated 7km from ITPL, is a fast-growing residential area.
The Kannamgala lake is the main source of groundwater for about 20,000 people living in the area. However, it was becoming a highly polluted lake, with people throwing poultry and plastic waste in it. Fearing danger to the quality of groundwater, residents then decided to join forces with Federation of RWAs, Communities and Establishments of Greater Whitefield (ForceGW) and panchayat members. They raised funds for development and rejuvenation of the lake.
The work, started six months back at a cost of Rs 2.5-3 crore, will be over soon, making the lake ready to receive monsoon showers. “It is the source of groundwater for three panchayats. Also, there are new communities coming up,” Manjunath Athrey, a ForceGW volunteer, told CE. “We realised that if we don’t take necessary steps now, the water crisis will go out of our hands. We don’t want to make Kannamangala lake another victim of development,” he added.
So far, the citizens have spent around Rs 50 lakh for removing the garbage and fortifying the lake bed. Almost 300 tonnes of garbage has been removed and sent to the waste plant in Doddaballapur. “We used motors to suck out the water, and moved it to another pond on the side. We are also planning to construct walkways, parks, children’s recreational area and a volleyball court here, while preserving the bio-diversity of the area,” Lingaraj Urs, a member of Kannamangala panchayat, said. The entire project is expected to be over in 18 months.
The core team for the initiative consists of 12 people, who are supported by neighbouring communities. “The support is growing. The initial struggle was to motivate ourselves,” Suresh Ramaswamy, another
ForceGW volunteer said. “It’s very easy to sit and plan on paper. But we just started it, and now, many people are coming forward to pitch in. People generally wait for somebody else to take the first step,” he added.