Hand over Chellakere Lake, Forest Department tells LDA

Hand over Chellakere Lake, Forest Department tells LDA

Divya Gandhi

‘It has become a private property of Royal Concorde International School’

LDA allowed the private trust to adopt the lake

A big portion of the lake was converted into a playground

— Photo: K Gopinathan

A FADING LAKE: The fenced playground on Chellakere Lake shore with the signage (at right) that says ‘Save Chellakere Lake.’

Bangalore: A sizeable part of the 35-acre Chellakere lake on the Outer Ringht Road near HRBR Layout appears to have turned into an exclusive playground for an international school that “adopted” it two years ago.

After receiving a flood of complaints from residents, the Forest Department has written to the Lake Development Authority (LDA) to “hand the lake back” to it.

Chellakere Lake, which was handed to the private Royal Concorde Education Trust under LDA’s “adopt a lake” scheme for its “maintenance” in 2006 for five years, has instead “become private property of the trust,” says the letter of September 8, sent to LDA by Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bangalore Urban, R.K. Srivastav.

Complete with a concrete basketball court and other facilities (including a tennis court and skating rink) the playground has been built on the lake shore where vegetation once grew, the letter states. It points out that a gate built by the Royal Concorde International School authorities along with a security guard appointed by them ensures that the right of entry to the playground is reserved for their students alone, and that “children from the vicinity or general public are not able to use these facilities.” A resident of Chellakere Extension, B. Krishnappa, said he had complained to the Forest Department about the state of the lake a few months ago. “We realised that the school is using the area as if it is its own. We wanted to know why a public space had been locked and guarded by the school.”

The Hindu team was turned away by security at the playground and at the plush international school which is a few yards from the lake.

As for the rest of the lake area, much of it appears to be languishing. The letter observes that the restoration work undertaken by the Forest Department in 2000 has been destroyed or not maintained: the chain link mesh has been broken, parthenium is colonising the area, garbage is mounting and the lake has become a “cesspool” of sewage.

Forest Department, the original custodian of the lake before it was transferred to the LDA, had developed the lake for Rs. 50 lakh, Mr. Srivastav said.

LDA sources have confirmed that several conditions of the policy on adoption of lakes had been violated.

L.R. Shivaramegowda, former MLA and owner of the education trust which has adopted the lake, said: “We are not running a restaurant. We are running a school which is in the interest of the public. My company has invested Rs. 30 lakh in improving the lake and will be spending Rs. 50 lakh more. I am confident that we are safeguarding the lake.”