BENGALURU: Come Sunday, the once pristine Hennagara Lake, which lies off the Jigani-Bommasandra Ring road, is set for a new lease of life. A Miyawaki forest eventually containing 9,500 tree saplings will make its debut on the lake bund here.
The Hennagara Lake Collective and NGO SayTrees Environmental Trust are behind this massive effort to revive the lake, spread over 330 acres. The fight put up by an eco-conscious freelance content writer Tushar Chandra was instrumental in the lake's transformation.
Miyawaki is a Japanese style afforestation method of raising trees in very close vicinity to improve the environment.
With repeated requests and arguments to stop disposing of garbage and sewage matter near the lake falling on deaf ears, Chandra had to file an FIR at the Jigani police station in February this year against a water tank owner and garbage contractor S Shivaraj to stop the menace.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Chandra said, "We have got permission from both the Gram Panchayat and the Anekal Town Planning Authority to create a Miyawaki here on Sunday. The first batch of saplings, nearly 2,000 of them, are set to be planted by localites and SayTrees Environmental Trust. The lake bund is empty now as we forced the contractor Shivaraj to clear all the construction material and garbage he had dumped here months ago and end future dumping. The planting is being done on top priority to ensure no one in future thinks of using the place as a garbage dump or for other illegal activities." The contractor has filed a complaint against him too.
Shivaraj, who is allegedly responsible for the pollution of the lake, said that he had removed all the garbage from the lake six months ago. "My name was somehow brought into the FIR to defame me. I have only arranged for the JCB to clear the plot for some trees that were planted recently," he claimed.
SayTrees Environmental Trust Programme Manager Shashank Sharma said, "We have seen through our experience that whenever a Miyawaki is done, there is a drop in temperature in the area. The lake has less greenbelt here and it will definitely attract biodiversity to the spot."
CSR funding from corporate concerns will help us put in place, he added.
Among the trees that will come up here are Pongamia pinnata (Honge), Ficus benghalensis (Aalada mara), Ficus religiosa (Arali, Ashvattha), Moringa oleifera (Nuggekayee or Drumstick), Syzygium cumini (Nerele) and Artocarpus heterophyllus (Halasina hannu or Jackfruit).