Bengaluru: Efforts are on to revive Kacharakanahalli Lake which was all but declared dead. While half of the waterbody was lost to a layout formed on it by its then custodian Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), the rest of the lake bed is encroached and dotted by slums and garbage dumps.
A meeting of civic officials and elected representatives, both present and former, of the Sarvagnanagar Assembly constituency where the lake lies, was held to discuss the issue recently. The meeting comes in the backdrop of a Rs 2.5-crore tender to erect a fence around it. The tender was called on October 5. Kacharakanahalli Lake was among 19 of the 205 lakes under the BBMP that were tagged as “disused”.
Locals admit that they have not seen water in the lake for over a decade now. Activists, however, have smelt a conspiracy in terming any lake disused, saying that it was only a prelude to legally taking over it.
Over two years ago, former corporator Padmanabha Reddy wrote to then BBMP commissioner regarding the lake, which led to then chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s office issuing an order to revive it.
“The tale of Kacharakanahalli Lake dates way back to 1976 when the BDA took charge of it. Between 1982 and 1984, the BDA converted half of the lake bed into a layout. The mistake was committed by BDA officials and the then government that let this happen. We are merely trying to rectify the mistake by bringing this lake back to life,” Reddy said.
“It is too early to say what we have planned for the lake. Once the encroachments are cleared and the fencing is in place, we’ll have to work on the DPR (detailed project report) and seek approval from the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority. Tuesday’s meeting was called to discuss how to proceed regarding the lake and no further details are ready yet,” he said.
“Recently, a tender was called to fence the lake, but we are yet to remove encroachments from it. There are some people living in makeshift sheds on the lake bed and they need to be relocated,” Reddy said.
“Land for them has already been identified near Nelamangala but the people are unwilling to relocate that far and are asking to be rehabilitated within the city limits which is difficult for us,” he added.
V Ramprasad, an expert, said: “The concept that a lake is dead because it has been dry for a long period of time due to diversion of the inlets (rajakaluves) is not only absurd but outright stupid. Diverting the inlet channels and making a lake dry to help encroachment is the worst environmental disaster modus operandi for which future generations will pay an unimaginable price.”
He added: “When we are treating sewage and filling up lakes in Anekal, Kolar and Chikkaballapur, the same can be done for both Banaswadi Lake and Kacharakanahalli Lake that is downstream.”
