BENGALURU: To tackle flooding in the BTM Layout area during monsoon, the BBMP lake wing has plans to remove silt from the Madiwala Lake.
Officials from the lake wing said that a Rs 40-crore proposal to remove silt has been sent to BBMP Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao for approval.
“If silt is removed from the 250-acre lake, its water holding capacity will increase. This will help avoid floods in future,” an official said.
The lake has not been desilted for the last 20 years. Once desilting work is done, areas downstream of the lake will not get flooded even if it rains heavily. A sluice gate will be installed 250 metres away from the lake to control the flow of water, he said.
The Palike is now developing pathways and parks, adding gazebos at a cost of Rs 15 crore. Removal of silt and hyacinth will add to Madiwala Lake’s beauty and improve its ecosystem. “We will start work as soon as the Rs 40-crore proposal is cleared,” an engineer said.
Expressing concern over silt and sewage entering the lake whenever it rains heavily, Anthony Raj, a fisherman, said about 116 families are dependent on the water body. Whenever it rains, sewage enters the lake, killing aquatic life. “We cleared five coracle loads of dead fish from the lake after the heavy rain on May 19. This was because sewage entered the water inlet,” Raj said.
Palike officials, however, allege that the pipelines of BWSSB leak and manholes overflow at many places. Thus, sewage enters the open drains and flows into the lake.