BENGALURU: The city of a thousand lakes, which once fulfilled the water needs of its citizens, is today a shadow of its pristine heritage. Today, most of the manmade water bodies are either dying or already dead. The past four decades have seen unchecked urbanisation, encroachment and flow of untreated sewage into these lakes and tanks with the government turning a blind eye. Successive governments have disregarded report after report to implement measures for their protection and maintenance.
Ulsoor Lake is just the tip of the iceberg as most lakes in the ciy have been destroyed, laments Eshwarappa Madivali of the People’s Campaign for Right to Water.
It will only turn worse, says Leo Saldanha of the Environment Support Group. “In just a week’s time, we will see fishes dying in Lalbagh Lake as sewage continues to flow into this water body. The rise in temperatures and the unchecked and increasing sewage load in the city lakes from surrounding residential complexes has sounded the death knell for lakes,” he said, adding, “With the oxygen cycle been cut off, fishes simply perish and in fact, in this situation, it is instant death. This is a very bad sign in the days to come. Unless, we stop sending the city’s sewage to lakes, the same scenario will continue year after year.”
Experts see a repeat of Ulsoor in other water bodies that are unable to bear the increasing load of sewage. Questioning the responsibilities and intentions of various government departments in tackling the issue, Saldanha adds, “It is more than five years now since the Justice N K Patil report on the Preservation of Lakes in Bengaluru was submitted. A sitting judge spent so much time to go into the issue while the government has not complied with the recommendations given by this committee.”
Saldanha says when DV Sadananda Gowda was the chief minister, Rs 150 crore was sanctioned. What has happened to it? Most officers in concerned departments lie on record as no works have been carried out till date to tackle the issue.”
The story is the same - all lakes in the city today are burdened by indiscriminate dumping of wastes and sewage by people and the authorities.
Haphazard development and rapid urbanisation and infrastructure developemnt has totally destroyed our lakes and in fact, the lakes have reached their last stage. There are no sewage treatment plants and if existent, they are not functioning. All concerned departments starting from BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, LDA, KSPCB have no accountability when it comes to the issue of lake conservation or protection.
Citing an example of how BBMP and BDA demonstrated their accountability, Eshwarappa said, “Recently 11 lakes were handed over to BBMP by BDA. But when we questioned corporation officials on the issue of their maintenance, they said the process of handing over is yet to start. ButBDA washed their hands off the issue. It is so convenient to pass the buck but ultimately the lakes suffer. With such apathy and indifference, how can one expect any measures to save the lakes?”
As lakes are gobbled up by land grabbers and developers in connivance with the powers that be, the day is not far off, when lakes in Bengaluru will be seen only on paper.