B’lore lakes brimming with monsoon bounty

B’lore lakes brimming with monsoon bounty
Deccan Herald

The situation of lakes above 100 acres being full has not occurred for the past several years.

It’s happy days again for the lakes in Bangalore which are brimming with water, thanks to the bountiful monsoons that the city has received this year.

Almost all the lakes coming under the jurisdiction of Forest Department, Minor Irrigation department and Lake Development Authority (LDA) have reached the full-tank level.

According to Executive Engineer, Venugopal, of Minor Irrigation Department, the situation of lakes above 100 acres being full has not occurred for the past several years.

“Last year, only two of our lakes including Varthur and Belandur were full and that too because the storm water from the city gets easily collected in these two lakes. But this scenario is the first since the last 8 years,” he said. Incidentally, lakes around Bangalore had witnessed a “reasonably good year” in 2000 when all these lakes were 70 per cent full.

All the lakes coming under the jurisdiction of Minor Irrigation department is in a full-tank position including Kalkere, Varthur, Rampur and Eleappa Shetty.

The situation is not any different for the lakes that come under the purview of Lake Development Authority (LDA) and Forest Department.

According to B K Singh, Chairman of LDA , this year 75 per cent of the lakes, that includes all the major lakes, was not just in a full-tank position, but was, in fact, also overflowing. Some lakes, including Jaraganahalli, Vengayyana kere and Nagawara, have done a turn around this year when compared to 2004, which was considered almost a dry year.

No guarantee

However, he was quick to add that lakes being filled to the brim was not indicative of whether the water that was being collected was clean or not.

“For instance, majority of the lakes coming under the CMC limits comes with a good amount of weeds and sewage in it. So a full-tank does not ensure clean, healthy water,” said B K Singh.

Hoskerehalli lake in Banashankari III stage, Dore kere lake in Uttarahalli are some of the examples of lakes that have both sewage and rain water in it. Even improper planning of layouts, failure to lay down underground pipes, has resulted in this situation, he added.

More than 80 per cent of the 104 lakes that come under the purview of Forest Department is also facing a full-tank situation. According to Deputy Conservator of Forests B M Parameshwar, Bangalore Urban District, the ones that have not reached the full-tank level include K R Puram tank, Hoodi Tank, Narasipura and Mallasandra. Yediyur Lake is also not full due to the work that is being undertaken by civic authorities, he explained.