No work yet on Puttenahalli Lake

No work yet on Puttenahalli Lake

The Hindu

The lake, which overflowed during last year's monsoon, inundated many houses

# The lake area comes under Bommanahalli CMC while its development comes under the Lake Development Authority
# The Forest Department has taken up plantation work around the lake
# The LDA invested Rs. 4 crore for the development of the lake in 2004-05


BANGALORE: The Sarakki Lake in Puttenahalli is quite deceptive. For many months in a year, it does not look like a lake. Sometimes resembling a swamp, and sometimes akin to a shrubby field, the lake aspect of it is all but missing.

Notorious for flooding homes in J.P. Nagar 6th Phase during last year's heavy rains, this lake is a principal sore point in an area already struggling to develop its roads and drainage systems.

Accountability

The issue of accountability ails it the most. The lake area comes under the Bommanahalli City Municipal Council while its development comes under the Lake Development Authority (LDA).

"The Lake Development Authority has not done anything till now. The Chief Minister is contemplating handing it over to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), but nothing about this is official yet. So no one is taking any initiative to start work," said Sundar Raj, Secretary, Federation of J.P Nagar Residents' Welfare Associations (consisting of more than 26 associations). "We have submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister. Investigation has begun, but since no decision has been taken, no work has started," he said.

According to Mr. Raj, as of today, some plantation work around the lake has been started by the Forest Department, which merely dug up the soil. Apparently, the LDA had made an investment of Rs. 4 crore in 2004-2005 towards this very lake, which has seen no progress.

What should be done to develop the lake then?

Ananthapadmanabha, General Secretary of the federation said: "Firstly the BDA has to construct the road properly. Only once the drainage system is properly set in place, taking measures to avoid flooding from the lake, can its real development start. Also for this road to be a good 100 ft wide, the fencing all around the lake has to be moved, but the LDA is taking too long to clear this proposal for road-widening."

Once this is done, he said, the primary task would be to clean the lake water, rid it of the immense weeds and waste. A lot of dead animals get dumped in it. A thorough clean up along with measures to ensure that mosquitoes stop breeding there is very necessary. The lake is also used as a dumping yard for debris."

The residents definitely want to see the lake improved. Girija is hopeful that the Sarakki Lake is developed well just like Ulsoor Lake and Sankey Tank.