BENGALURU: The city’s Nagawara Lake, which was leased out by the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority to Lumbini Gardens Private Ltd for a period of 15 years in 2004, is in news yet again. With the lease period ending on November 27 this year, the lake was handed over to the Karnataka Forest Department. Now, environmentalists do not want the lake to be privatised once again as they say that “the lake has been exploited and commercialised.”
They alleged that Lumbini Gardens built an amusement park with facilities like a wave pool, boating, amusement rides, a floating restaurant and hosted several events and charged an entrance fee of Rs 80 during the lease period.
Lumbini Gardens has now filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking renewal of the agreement for 10 more years. Environmentalists, however, are up in arms against this.
“Privatisation of the lake has resulted in cutting off public access. It has destroyed an entire ecosystem. They has focussed only on improving aesthetics and not on improving and protecting the catchment area. The wetland constructed spanning over 23 acres has not been maintained. The wetland is meant to treat the incoming secondary treated water from the Hebbal STP. Also, the wetland is home to several species of birds, most of which are scheduled species listed under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. We do not want the government or the HC to extend the lease ... most importantly, no lake should be privatised,” Shobha Anand Reddy, Environmental Scientist, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) said.
Shobha said that Leo Saldhana of Environment Support Group (ESG) had filed a PIL against privatisation in 2008. The HC in 2010 had appointed a committee comprising 10 members headed by the Chairman of High Court Legal Service Justice N K Patil to examine the ground reality and suggest steps to be taken for preservation and restoration of lakes in and around Bengaluru.The report had said that “private sector participation solely based on consequential commercial interest is not a desirable model.”
“We demand that all lakes be taken back into public possession and restored with an ecological approach. Priority should be to restore the ecosystem, prevent pollution, and restore the forests around it ... There should be no excuse for any commercialisation,” Sandeep Anirudhan, Founder, Citizens’ Agenda for Bengaluru, said.
Speaking to TNIE, Chief Conservator of Forests R Gokul said, “The lease period is over and the possession of the lake has been taken over by us. No permission has been given to continue with the lease. It will be decided by the higher authorities.”