De-silting Hebbal Lake worries experts

De-silting Hebbal Lake worries experts
Tuesday June 19 2007 10:19 IST

BANGALORE: The ongoing de-silting work at Hebbal Lake has raised eyebrows of many environmentalists.

The artificial lake, spread over 60 hectares, was built long ago blocking a valley. Today, they have pumped out the whole water sheet rendering it bone-dry where youngsters play cricket and other games.

Experts say undertaking the de-silting work just before monsoon is not a prudent move. Neither the work will get completed before rains nor will it be thorough work as the Lake is dry.

Restoration of the Lake is sponsored by East India Hotels, which owns a chain of Oberoi hotels, on behalf of the Lake Development Authority.

Speaking to this website's newspaper, urban ecologist M B Krishna said such steps were very harmful to aqua-life and birds. “De-silting a part of the lake is not harmful, but covering the whole lake at one go is not desirable.

Further, this is the wrong time to execute the work. The winged friends are hard hit. Some birds require shallow, marshy and sloppy areas. The de-silting work will deny them this,” he said.

It’s also important that a buffer zone between the road and the lake is maintained to preserve the aqua-life. “De-silting of lakes should not be taken up just before the monsoon showers. It looks like they want to cover-up something.

It’s also important to ensure that the island in the lake is split so that it holds water in between,” added Krishna.

Bio-diversity Expert Harish Bhatt said that lake water should not be completely drained of aqua-life. The total destruction of aqua-life would deny the birds and other micro-organisms a chance to survive. “They have dried the whole lake, and it yields bad results.

De-silting should be done scientifically, by not hampering the eco-system. Since the lake is leased, de-silting should be done under strict supervision and in an adequate manner,” he said.