BDA to develop 25 more lakes

BDA to develop 25 more lakes
Bangalore: April 28, DH News Service

The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) will be entrusted with developing 25 more lakes in the City.

Addressing reporters after inspecting works on developing Ullal, Konasandra, Somapura, Hoskere and Mallathahalli lakes on Tuesday, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said the Government aimed to rejuvenate over hundred lakes during his tenure. He said development of 12 lakes at a cost of Rs 104 crore has been undertaken already and 25 more lakes, which were being maintained by the Lake Development Authority (LDA), will be handed over to BDA for rejuvenation at a cost of Rs 200 crore . He said all the lakes would have a jogging track and trees.

Reiterating the commitment to revive the past glory of the City, Yeddyurappa said, “At one time we had 260 lakes in and around the City. Nearly 130 have vanished due to demand for land and increasing population. We are making an attempt to save the existing water bodies,” he said.

The Chief Minister said four mini-Lalbaghs will be set up in each corner of the City soon.
On preparations to face monsoon, he said 136 kms of storm water drains which feed water to the lakes and overflow in the monsoon, have been desilted.

He also said with MLAs concerned, Mayor and Deputy Mayor, he will visit some of the areas and interact with the public every Sunday to address their grievances. Work on four hi-tech hospitals will also begin soon, he added.

Grievances

Earlier in the morning, Yeddyurappa inspected the works at Ullal, Konasandra, Somapura, Hoskere and Mallathahalli lakes. He sought details of the work and directed the officials to complete it at the earliest.

A group of residents at Visvesvaraya Layout submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister about irregular water supply, poor sanitation and bad road.

He was visibly upset when one of the residents charged that despite collecting the betterment charges, they were deprived of basic facilities. They even sought refund of the money. Yeddyurappa, promised to look into their problems soon.

On noticing the lake at Gandhinagar near Kengeri filled with weeds, he directed the authorities to clear the encroachment and desilt the lake.

He also visited a fair price shop at Gandhinagar and inspected the food grains distribution. Some of the women customers at the shop complained that just four kilos of rice per head for a month was not adequate. Yeddyurappa promised to look into the issue.

He was accompanied by Yeshwanthpur MLA Shobha Karandlaje and Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA M Srinivas, BDA Commissioner Siddaiah, BBMP Commissioner Bharatlal Meena, BWSSB Chairman B B Ramamurthy and Lake Development Authority official Dr Yelappa Reddy.

Yelappa Reddy said each lake should be developed only after studying their morphological aspects.