End of the road for city’s ‘bird reserve’

End of the road for city’s ‘bird reserve’

Divya Gandhi
Forest Department hands over Puttenahalli Lake to BBMP
The lake is home to 125 species of birds

Its development will chase away the birds



DISTURBED: A cormorant at Puttenahalli Lake.
Bangalore: Not too long ago Puttenahalli Lake was obscure, tucked away in Yelahanka. It shot to prominence when the Forest Department sought a “Bird Conservation Reserve” status for this water body that attracts 125 species of birds. However, just as the city’s birdwatchers celebrated this initiative, a rather different roadmap has been drawn up for the lake – one that, many fear, will spell doom for the birds.

Puttenahalli Lake was on March 19 handed over by the Forest Department to Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for a Rs. 12-crore development project that includes a jogging track, children’s play ground, butterfly park, illumination and introduction of ornamental fish.

The detailed project report includes a chain-link fence and a four-metre wide bund around the 37-acre lake, besides de-weeding, dredging and sewage diversion.

The report points out that the lake is polluted and receives raw sewage from several housing colonies and resorts in the area.

Work will begin after the elections and will be completed by July, M.D. Nadaf, executive engineer at BBMP, told The Hindu.

It will be partly funded through Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the State Government and the BBMP. Puttenahalli Lake (touted as the “first bird reserve” of its kind), along with 12 other lakes, were handed over to BBMP for development following a Government Order because the Forest Department was “cash-strapped”, said Range Forest Officer V. Veeranna.

“Forest Department has handed the lakes over on the condition that BBMP returns them once they are developed.” It might be too late for the birds, he fears. “If rejuvenation is restricted to weed removal and scientific dredging, it could be beneficial to Puttenahalli lake. But once we have human activity, it could be the end of birds,” said S. Subramanya, a bird expert.

Scores of water birds nest at the lake which has the largest number of the striking purple moorhen in Bangalore.

In 2007, the then Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, A.K. Verma, had written to the State Government asking that the Lake Development Authority drop Puttenahalli Lake from the list of lakes it had notified for public-private partnership as it “would be disastrous for the birds which are thriving in this lake”.

Fodder
If environmentalists fear a disturbance to the ecosystem, the new development could mean a loss of livelihood for dozens of cattle-owners who have for years depended on the lake for fodder. While the report does say that weed-collectors will be permitted, Mr. Nadaf said that after its development, “no one will be permitted to take out any material from the lake”.

Muniraj, who pedals down from Puttenahalli village everyday to collect hongone soppum, says he will now have to travel miles to collect the grass to feed his four cows. Some 40 weed-collectors come from four villages in the area, he says.