BENGALURU: The Pattandur Agrahara Lake, off ECC road in Kadugodi ward of Whitefield, is shrinking by the day from illegal dumping of construction debris. People living around the lake, fed up with official inaction for the past four to five months, recently organised a protest. They were shocked to learn that officials themselves were unsure about who is in charge.
The Bangalore Development Authority is the lake development authority, but a senior BDA official says that there was a confusion about the lake ownership till recently. “A citizen had filed a petition early this year reporting encroachment on the lake, and the High Court ruled saying that BBMP is in charge and has to act,” says Mallikarjun, chief engineer with BDA. “The BBMP then transferred ownership of the land to BDA a few months ago but this communicated to BDA effectively. I was not aware of the illegal dumping that is happening in the lake. Now that we know, we have taken up this issue with the tehsildar, the corporator and the MLA. We will definitely fence the lake soon,” he says.
The corporator of the ward S Muniswamy blames the Revenue Department. He says, “I have been hearing about this lake encroachment for a long time and I have tried my best to save the lake. I told the tehsildar to properly demarcate the lake, but he pays no heed. The Revenue Department ignored my complaints. The lake needs a proper fencing and MLA Aravind Limbavalli and I have decided to take this up seriously. We will also work to getting the lake ownership transferred from the Revenue Department, to the KLCDA/BBMP and the work on reviving it.”
Residents had reported that trucks and earth movers dump debris into the lake bed in the nights. Sandeep, a resident, says, “At around 12 midnight, an army off trucks and JCBs came near the lake and started dumping large amounts of construction debris. We took photos from our terrace but we did not want to go near the lake because it is secluded and anything could happen. This offloading of debris into the lake went on till 4 am”. BDA’s Mallikarjun says, “If any such activity is seen, we will immediately report this to the police”.
Satish, a resident who is fighting to save the lake, says that they are fed up of this “blame game”. “There is some confusion over who owns the land, BBMP or another government agency or an individual. But the NGO United Bengaluru NGO said that Pattanduru Agrahara Lake - Survey 54 is under BDA’s custody, and BDA has not taken any action as well,” says the 35-year-old.
Thirty-eight-year-old Vinayak, a resident near the lake, says that the lake is being destroyed. “It is being filled up with mud and debris. Our locality is green but urbanisation is rapidly eating into this, but we want to preserve this lake. I hope the authorities will pay heed to our requests.”
Forty-six-year-old Mukundan says that “ignorance of local authorities has caused much damage to the lake”. “We do not want another Bellandur Lake here, this lake is already beginning to froth”.
Residents believe that the lake is being filled up to a build a road that will drive up realty prices. Says Sandeep, “Some minister is rumoured to have acquired a large piece of land there, maybe that is why there is a hurry to construct a road here”.
Important water source
More than 100 citizens participated in a peaceful protest on Saturday demanding immediate action to save the lake. Gautam, a member of the ward committee, says, “This lake is one of the main water sources for us. We want the lake to be fenced and demand it be developed properly, with a walk and a park”. Fifty-five-year-old Selvaraj, from neighbouring village, says, “I have been living here for the past 30 years and, in the last ten years, massive constructions have come up. The lake has fallen victim to this rapid expansion, but we will not let it die.”