Problems galore for Yediyur lake

Problems galore for Yediyur lake despite Kere Siri Yojana
Vijay Times

THE Y ediyur lake, which is supposed to be filled with water , is filled with silt.

With the onset of summer , its look has changed to that of a desert.

The Kere Siri Y ojana, a project taken up by the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) to revive lakes in the City , hasn’t helped the Y ediyur lake in any way .

However , the Sanky and Ulsoor lakes have stood to gain from the project to a considerable extent.

The Y ediyur lake is spread over an area of 13 acres.

The lake was handed over to a contractor identified as Shamraj in the year 2003. The contractor was asked to revive the lake at a cost of Rs 3.25 crore.

However , work is going at a snail’s pace.

Despite several residents complaining about the apathy of the contractor in desilting the lake, the status of the lake continues to remain the same.

Apart from the lake, a park located on the banks of the lake is also badly maintained.

The private contractor , who had desilted the lake to a depth of about a metre, had claimed an amount of Rs 2.65 crore for carrying out the task.

According to the K M C Act, desilitation should be done to a depth of about 5 metres.

T wo months ago, Mayor Mumtaz Begum, who paid a visit to the lake, had directed the officials concerned to begin work on the Y ediyur lake.

The Mayor had then said that the lake would be ready in a month’s time. However , that hasn t happened till date.

Residents alleged that while every newly elected Mayor paid a formal visit to the lake, nobody had initiated action to develop it so far .

T alking to BVT , Mayor Mumtaz Begum said : "An amount of Rs 60 lakh as yearly fund has already been released. The contractor has not initiated the work." Opposition leader in the BCC H Basavaraj said, "An amount of Rs 3.90 crore was released for development work but nothing has been done till date." Out of the 17 acres of land, 6 acres of land have been encroached upon and the remaining 11 acres should be developed.