BENGALURU: Just last year, residents of Rajarajeshwari Nagar had built artificial islands at Bheemanakatte lake and had been maintaining and growing various species of plants like water bamboo, alligator weed, typha, clocasia and umbrella palm to keep the water body clean. But recently, an out-of-the-blue development work was taken up by the horticultural department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). And residents are not at all happy with this.
The residents, who had been working closely with the BBMP on the lake, said the officials have now left them in a lurch. “Now, the Horticulture Department has been roped in by the local corporator to install concrete blocks on the walk path, construct a washroom, play area, sink a borewell, create lawns and replace the existing native plant species with exotic ones for tree cover. Citizens have worked hard all these years to keep it natural and have painstakingly maintained it through many dry seasons. They have stood guard through the nights to prevent illegal Ganesha idol immersions,” stated a complaint given to the BBMP Commissioner by the RR Nagar I Care, a citizen forum.
Niveditha Sunkad, forum managing trustee, told The New Indian Express, “This is a perennial lake and even the BBMP lake chief engineer is unaware of the works.” However, BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar claimed that he was not aware of the works.“It is a good effort that the citizens are undertaking and I will inform the officials on the ground to take them into confidence on any work taken up on the lake,” he said.