Bangalore civic body to seek Rs119 crore for our lakes

BBMP commissioner MK Shankarlinge Gowda assured the council that he would write to the government to provide its share of Rs119 crore for rejuvenation of lakes.

Gowda was responding to concerns raised by JD(S) leader Padmanabha Reddy over the fate of lakes disappearing due to mindless encroachments.

BBMP would rejuvenate 132 lakes with a budget of Rs239 crore.

“Since the government has agreed to bear 50% of the costs, we will write to the government for a provision of Rs119 crore,” he said.

Initiating the discussion in the council on Thursday, Reddy warned that people would migrate to other cities if the lakes were not protected.

“Garbambudi Lake is now a bus stand, a hockey stadium has been built on the Akkithimmanahalli Lake and City Market area, developed by Kempegowda, was once Kalyani Lake,” he said.

“The BBMP has said that it is fencing the lakes, but how can BBMP fence the lake even before recovering the 131 acres? Due to the pressure from local politicians, BBMP has failed in putting an end to encroachment”, he said.

Replying to Reddy’s demand of handing over the temples and prayer halls which had come up in the lake areas under the Muzrai department, Gowda said details of the encroachment of lakes would be presented before the council every three months.

Gowda said he would consider installing In Situ treatment plants, a method where water will be continuously pumped into the lakes to prevent them from drying up. A similar model has been set up in Thames River in London. The water will be purified after tertiary treatment and it will run at least 100 km upstream.

Turning to problems related to release of funds, Gowda said the BBMP was not receiving funds from World Bank due to objections from neighbouring states. The bank apparently has decided to release funds only for non-Cauvery catchment areas in the country, he said. 

According to rules, no building should come up within the buffer zone of 30 metres of the lakes, he added.

Meanwhile, Hanumanthanagar ward corporator K Chandrashekar alleged that during the 2009-10 administration period, there was a misappropriation of funds worth Rs483 crore. The BBMP had given various works to Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Corporation (KRIDL) under 4 (G) without floating tenders.

Tender have been called to the works which had been completed under emergency work taken up in the previous years. He also alleged that works were taken without any permission from the government.