Leave the lakes alone

Leave the lakes alone
In the third part of the series, TOI looks at the lakeside story
R Jayaprakash | TNN

Bangalore: When the city’s drains are full after a heavy downpour, where does the water flow? It should have been the lakes and tanks. But the water bodies which are primarily responsible to hold the excess water are either extinct or incapacitated. So, water finds its way into residential localities and low-lying areas, resulting in inundation, loss of life and property.
Not so long ago, 1,000 lakes and water bodies in Bangalore acted as water reservoirs. That number is down to just 200. Blame it on encroachers or official apathy, but the condition of the lakes, which are an integral part of the ecology, environment and weather of the city, cries out for immediate attention.
Bangalore’s topography is a natural marvel — valleys connected with over 1,000 lakes and excess water flowing out of these lakes into rivers — Cauvery, North Pennar and South Pennar. But today, the degeneration of these valleys and lakes has taken a toll on the city. If encroachments to drains restricted the water flow to lakes, human settlement on lake beds has led to malfunctioning of the whole storm water drain system.
The pristine water bodies, tanks and lakes are today nothing but sewage tanks. Sewage water is let into storm water drains and there are no separate pipelines even if there were, due to their low capacity it is let into the drains. Once lake beds, these are now private layouts across the city leading to breaking the lake chain.
How it works: Bangalore has three major valleys — Koramanagala-Challaghatta, Vrishabhavati and Hebbal. There are six major lake series with each series having 6 to 15 lakes. They are interconnected — Madavara, Yellamallappa Chetty, Varthur, Hulimavu, Byramangala and Puttenahalli. Rainwater collected flows through drains and reaches the designated lake. When the lakes get filled, the excess water flows into the outer-most lakes and from there on joins the rivers. While water from Hebbal and KC valleys meet North and South Pennar River in Tamil Nadu, water from the Challaghatta valley joins Cauvery near Kanakapura. “The lakes have been designed to withstand overflowing due to rains. Whenever a lake is developed, a fixed full reservoir level (FRL) is built-in which can regulate the flow of water into the lake. In case of flooding and overflowing, the excess water will drain into the waste-weir which in turn will flow into a smaller lake at a lower location, in a cascading effect,” explains Lake Development Authority chief B K Singh said.
The main problem with lakes is the silt. This incapacitates the lake’s capacity to hold water. Lakes are often treated as dumping yards — construction debris, waste, garbage, affluent from industries are making their way into the lakes apart from sewage being let into them. Not to forget the land mafia for whom the water bed is a soft target.
The LDA is monitoring 40 lakes on a regular basis in coordination with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. It has funded the BWSSB to the tune of Rs 40 crore to block sewage water from entering the various lakes. The LDA has also approached the BDA to formulate a Comprehensive Development Plan for lakes. The authority has suggested that Bangalore with many valleys and greens has a unique geographic design that enables natural storm water drains fill up lakes and hence mustn’t be disturbed.
Some hope
The BWSSB has drawn up a master plan to separate sewage water and storm water. A Rs 700-crore project funded by the World Bank will be implemented soon. The project entails increasing the capacity of the underground drainage system to ensure that untreated water doesn’t enter storm water drains.
Adopt a lake
In its efforts to conserve lakes and save them from encroachment and pollution, the LDA is encouraging people to participate in conserving them. If you are interested, go to www.lakeauthority.com.
Status of lakes
While seven lakes have been developed under the PPP scheme, the LDA has developed over seven lakes under the aegis of the BBMP and the BDA — Ulsoor, Yediyur, Sankey Tank, Agara, Lalbagh, Benniganahalli and Nagavara. The bad news is there are over 180 lakes that need to protected, desilted and developed. There isn’t enough money to develop even 25% of the lakes. Violations, encroachments and pollution of the lakes are common.
The LDA’s hands are also tied. The authorities can only serve a notice to the cuplrits; it has no powers to either penalise the guilty or take any punitive action.Leave the lakes alone
In the third part of the series, TOI looks at the lakeside story
R Jayaprakash | TNN

Bangalore: When the city’s drains are full after a heavy downpour, where does the water flow? It should have been the lakes and tanks. But the water bodies which are primarily responsible to hold the excess water are either extinct or incapacitated. So, water finds its way into residential localities and low-lying areas, resulting in inundation, loss of life and property.
Not so long ago, 1,000 lakes and water bodies in Bangalore acted as water reservoirs. That number is down to just 200. Blame it on encroachers or official apathy, but the condition of the lakes, which are an integral part of the ecology, environment and weather of the city, cries out for immediate attention.
Bangalore’s topography is a natural marvel — valleys connected with over 1,000 lakes and excess water flowing out of these lakes into rivers — Cauvery, North Pennar and South Pennar. But today, the degeneration of these valleys and lakes has taken a toll on the city. If encroachments to drains restricted the water flow to lakes, human settlement on lake beds has led to malfunctioning of the whole storm water drain system.
The pristine water bodies, tanks and lakes are today nothing but sewage tanks. Sewage water is let into storm water drains and there are no separate pipelines even if there were, due to their low capacity it is let into the drains. Once lake beds, these are now private layouts across the city leading to breaking the lake chain.
How it works: Bangalore has three major valleys — Koramanagala-Challaghatta, Vrishabhavati and Hebbal. There are six major lake series with each series having 6 to 15 lakes. They are interconnected — Madavara, Yellamallappa Chetty, Varthur, Hulimavu, Byramangala and Puttenahalli. Rainwater collected flows through drains and reaches the designated lake. When the lakes get filled, the excess water flows into the outer-most lakes and from there on joins the rivers. While water from Hebbal and KC valleys meet North and South Pennar River in Tamil Nadu, water from the Challaghatta valley joins Cauvery near Kanakapura. “The lakes have been designed to withstand overflowing due to rains. Whenever a lake is developed, a fixed full reservoir level (FRL) is built-in which can regulate the flow of water into the lake. In case of flooding and overflowing, the excess water will drain into the waste-weir which in turn will flow into a smaller lake at a lower location, in a cascading effect,” explains Lake Development Authority chief B K Singh said.
The main problem with lakes is the silt. This incapacitates the lake’s capacity to hold water. Lakes are often treated as dumping yards — construction debris, waste, garbage, affluent from industries are making their way into the lakes apart from sewage being let into them. Not to forget the land mafia for whom the water bed is a soft target.
The LDA is monitoring 40 lakes on a regular basis in coordination with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. It has funded the BWSSB to the tune of Rs 40 crore to block sewage water from entering the various lakes. The LDA has also approached the BDA to formulate a Comprehensive Development Plan for lakes. The authority has suggested that Bangalore with many valleys and greens has a unique geographic design that enables natural storm water drains fill up lakes and hence mustn’t be disturbed.
Some hope
The BWSSB has drawn up a master plan to separate sewage water and storm water. A Rs 700-crore project funded by the World Bank will be implemented soon. The project entails increasing the capacity of the underground drainage system to ensure that untreated water doesn’t enter storm water drains.
Adopt a lake
In its efforts to conserve lakes and save them from encroachment and pollution, the LDA is encouraging people to participate in conserving them. If you are interested, go to www.lakeauthority.com.
Status of lakes
While seven lakes have been developed under the PPP scheme, the LDA has developed over seven lakes under the aegis of the BBMP and the BDA — Ulsoor, Yediyur, Sankey Tank, Agara, Lalbagh, Benniganahalli and Nagavara. The bad news is there are over 180 lakes that need to protected, desilted and developed. There isn’t enough money to develop even 25% of the lakes. Violations, encroachments and pollution of the lakes are common.
The LDA’s hands are also tied. The authorities can only serve a notice to the cuplrits; it has no powers to either penalise the guilty or take any punitive action.