Bangalore on its way to becoming 'former Garden City'

The sorry state of Puttenahalli lake in Yelahanka — not to be confused with its namesake in JP Nagar — is a stark reminder that Bangalore is well on its way to becoming ‘former Garden City’.

Situated on a 10-hectare lakebed near Yelahanka, this lake has become a victim of apathy and is staring at its demise. In fact, it has got reduced to a cesspool now. Anand, president of Prestige Monte Carlo Owners’ Association, said the lake is part of a system of water bodies that includes Attur Lake and Yelahanka Lake. Attur Lake has already dried up as the water table has receded.

Anand said migratory birds have stopped visiting the lake and cultivation of fodder has started on the lakebed. There is encroachment all around and debris is being thrown on the lakebed and around it every day. He added that sewage from residential and commercial establishments, too, is being discharged into the lake.

Fed up with the government’s inaction, the residents of the area are now demanding action to save the lake. Anand said a fence must be put around the lake, encroachment must be removed and the lakebed should be desilted. He added that the agencies that are letting sewage into the lake must be given exemplary punishment. Also, builders who are constructing high-rise apartments should be urged to work towards restoring lakes under public-private partnership.

Anand added that their area has been facing severe shortage of water for many years and the city water board is yet to supply 24x7 Cauvery water to areas in the northern part of the city. If the water bodies in the area were restored, he said, the water woes could be solved to some extent.

Ramachandra Mohan, department of zoology, Bangalore University, said a herculean effort was needed to save the lake. He said the first step would be desilting the lakebed, adding that the lake is important from the point of view of bio-diversity as well as ecology.

Whose lake is it anyway?

Anand said earlier Puttenahalli lake was under the forest department, which handed it over to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The lake was identified as an important water body for the northern part of the city and hence the BBMP had given its charge to the Lake Development Authority (LDA).

Now, the lake’s responsibility is back with the forest department, which has outsourced its lake projects to the LDA. Anand pointed out that even as the lake’s charge has been yo-yoing between various authorities, nothing has been done to save it. He added that the residents wrote even letters to the governor and authorities several times, but got no response. An official of the LDA told DNA they were going to start work on the lake in two months. Meanwhile, the board put up by the LDA, which has begun to rust, near the lake lies covered in weed, describing the state of affairs.