BENGALURU: With rising temperatures and lakes drying up in the city, IIIT Bangalore along with Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCIA), is launching a campaign to protect and revive lakes in Bengaluru. With an aim to raise funds to revive Doddathogur Lake in Konappana Agrahara, a marathon is being organised to call all citizens in Bengaluru to protect the city from lake exploitation.
The six-km marathon will start and end at the IIIT Bangalore campus and is expected to bring over 500 participants. The crowd-funded event also includes voluntary donations to help the lake’s development. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IIIT decided to bring up the initiative as part of a social cause. “We approached ELCIA and wanted to do something to protect the environment. We visited the lake and realised that it needed to be revived, so we decided to convert the lake into beautiful place with a nice park . We also planned to install a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP),” said IIIT registrar Commodor S R Sridhar. He added that the entire funds collected will used for the lake’s development.
The marathon, organised for the first time, will be a yearly event focussing on social causes. “We may look into the revival of other lakes in the city in the following years,” said Sridhar. The event hopes to raise Rs 70,000 - Rs 1 lakh.
The marathon will be held on April 13 at 5.30 am. Registration fee is Rs 600 per person and the event is open to the public.