Road of contention

Road of contention
‘ When the BBMP first proposed the road, the idea was to provide easy access for apartment occupants. ‘ When it was turned down, they came up with a new pro- posal, a road for villagers.
BENGALURU




Even as the debate rages on lake encroachment, several government agencies are ‘working’ quietly to alter one of the finest water bodies in South Bengaluru.

The Madivala Lake has now become the bone of contention between the forest department and the BBMP over construction of a road that will cut across the bund of Madiwala lake.

Shockingly, the Lake Development Authority — a statutory body to protect and develop the lakes in the city has given the green signal to the project and has also received land cost of Rs 10 lakh from a developer.

The ‘goof-up’ began in 2006, when the urban forest division submitted a report on the Madiwala lake to the Circle conservator of forests and a copy to the head of LDA. While the department did not pursue the demand for the road after looking into ecological aspects of the water body, the LDA in one of its meetings told the civic agency to go ahead with the road over the lake.

Why a road? The BBMP says, the road is required for people living in Bilekala Halli and private apartments that have come up at the western bund of the Madivala tank, which is spread over 114 hectares of.

There is a nine metre-long mud carriageway, which is used by morning walkers and cow boys who take their livestock for grazing near the lake area.

“When the BBMP first proposed the road, the idea was to provide easy access for apartment occupants.

When it was turned down, they came up with a new requirement — a road for the villagers. But the villagers are used to Banne rghatta Road and have no problem without another road,’’ a senior forest officer told Deccan Chronicle.

Moreover, the forest department is fuming over the land cost. While the proposed road area is about 7,740 sq. mtr and the land costs about Rs 2.2 crore, the LDA and the BBMP have valued the land at Rs 10 lakh. Interestingly, a private developer deposited the cheque from Karnataka Bank in favour of the LDA on March 7, 2008.

Conservationists however are confident the lake will not be altered. “In 1995, ornithologist Zafar Futehallly had filed a petition in the High Court for the conservation of lakes of Bengaluru. The case is still pending and any diversion of land for development purposes would be termed contempt of court,’’ conservationist Ameen Ahmed pointed out.