BENGALURU: This is the story of a dying river. Legend has it that the Vrushabhavati sprang from a small hillock next to Bull Temple, or Dodda Ganapathi Temple in Basavanagudi, for some rituals in the Gali Anjaneya Temple. It was a river whose water was used for the abhisheka of idols, and has been linked with temples and purity.
That was then. Today, as the river flows south, where its tributary from Kadu Malleswara Temple in Malleswaram joins it near the pipeline at Gali Anjaneya Temple, it looks more like a drain, sluggish with sewage.
The Vrushabhavathi, which winds around parts of Bengaluru, once catered to the domestic and agricultural needs of the west of the city, before industries came up around the region, and pumped their waste into the river. With a catchment area of 170sqkm, it flows through 97 wards of the city, and has numerous interconnected lake systems such as Kempambudhi Lake in Basvanagudi, Sankey Lake in Sadashivnagar and Yediyur lake in Yediyur. The Vrushabhavati valley once had nearly 71 lakes, which have been now reduced to 35 due to sewage, untreated industrial effluents and dumping of construction and demolition waste. As it travels onwards towards Kengeri, it joins the Suvarnamukhi at Byramangala in Bidadi, where its banks are dotted with temples.
Today, this pure river is dying, its water black with filth. At places, it is snow-white with chemicals, its foam spraying as it falls into small valleys near Byramangala in Bidadi. Both speak of human abuse.
Yet, residents at Chowkahalli allow cattle to drink the water, and use it to wash clothes, resulting in skin diseases. It is still used to irrigate fields, where farmers grow crops for Bengaluru’s populace.
And what goes around, comes around: pollutants are returning to poison the city in the form of milk and vegetables. After winding its way for 52km, collecting garbage, human refuse and other flotsam, the Vrushabhavati joins the river Arkavathy at Gendekere in Kanakapura. As they merge, there is a clear difference is quality and colour -- the black Vrushabhavati flowing into the reddish-brown Arkavathy. They later confluence with the river Cauvery near Mekedatu.
Time and again, efforts have been made to revive the river, and even turn the Arkavathy into the Thames of Bengaluru, but to no avail. Little wonder that the river is today better known as Kengeri Mori.