Janardhana Kere: A lake that even Google Map fails to find

Though the Lokayukta in 2020 has directed the revenue department to survey the lake and evict the encroachment from the lake, nothing has been done till now.

In 2017, NGO Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) along with the lake activists and freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, who passed away last year, visited the lake to check its status.

Vinod Jacob, the General Manager of NBF, said, “The lake was encroached by private individuals and construction debris had covered a majority of the waterbody. The sewage was flowing into the lake. NBF filed a police complaint and later we approached the Lokayukta which had given instructions to remove the encroachment and restore the lake.”

A part of the storm water drain (SWD) connecting the lake has been encroached and the drain today carries raw sewage.

A citizen activist, Lakshmikantha M, who has been at the forefront in the struggle to get the lake restored, recalled the old revenue map and said it showed the place had a lake. “It is indeed sad that a part of the lake has been gobbled up and today there is a barren land. The authorities have declared this as a dead lake. The aides of local politicians have encroached the waterbody. Several fake papers were made to claim the ownership of the lake,” he added.

An old board of the Karnataka Forest Department placed at the periphery of the lake reads, “The total extent of the lake is 7.25 acres and encroachment of the lake, polluting water by throwing garbage and killing of animals are offences. Swimming in the lake is dangerous.”

NBF filed a police complaint and later we approached the Lokayukta which had given instructions to remove the encroachment and restore the lake.

However, a couple of years ago, a person had erected a board claiming 3.63 acre of the lake is his property. The case is now pending in the Karnataka High Court.

Another activist, K Nageswar Rao, said the SWD has also been encroached by the builders. “Construction debris has been dumped. Parts of the lake have been encroached and the buffer zone of the lake has been violated. The former corporator has said that Rs 3 crore was sanctioned for the revival of the lake a few years ago but nothing has been done. Moreover, when the government agencies have encroached the lake, what can we say to the others? The lake should be surveyed and the encroachers should be pushed out.”

The authorities have declared this as a dead lake.

A Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike official from the forest department division on condition of anonymity said, “The case is in the Lokayukta and the court is hearing a property dispute case revolving around the lake. The petitioner in the case, who claims 3.63 acre in survey number 28 as his private property, has submitted to the court that in another writ petition filed by him, the court has ordered a status quo.”