Lakes: 50 gone in 50 years

Lakes: 50 gone in 50 years
BENGALURU


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Guess who is on the list of encroachers of the pristine lakes in city? The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board! Bengaluru city alone has lost 50 lakes over the last 50 years. For the entire city and its surrounding areas the numbers have shrunk to 200 from 1,000.
A document available with the Deccan Chronicle from the Lake Development Authority (LDA) reveals some astonishing facts: Who has eaten into the precious lakes and what exists there now. And the blame squarely rests with the state government. Over a period of time, the government encouraged encroachers to take over these lakes for development.

Government departments, public buildings, private layouts, BDA layouts, builders and layout developers… the list of establishments is endless. On the periphery of the city, around 800 lakes have made way for urbanisation. And many more are on the death bed. “In many cases we have seen vested interests filling lakes during summer. In a month or two the soil gets flattened and these people wait for the monsoon. The rain will have no effect and over a period of time, they construct boundary walls and unnoticed, they start developing it,” explain LDA officials.