Who cares about Gangashetty Lake? Only hyacinth

Who cares about Gangashetty Lake? Only hyacinth


Y Maheswara Reddy First Published : 14 Jun 2010 05:18:08 AM IST
BANGALORE: The diminishing lakes in the city have been a cause for concern of the state government.
With the increase in urbanisation, government agencies are battling to save the remaining handful of lakes left in the city. But these agencies seem to have turned a blind eye towards one such lake that is on the verge of buckling under the growing population.
The Gangashetty Kere, situated opposite to the Tahsildar office at Krishnarajapuram, is clogged with excessive growth of hyacinth. Though the sign board near the lake indicates that the lake comes under the jurisdiction of the State Forest Department, there has been no efforts to clean it.
The department has also assigned one person to look after the lake but his presence is being ignored. He said, “People come here and try to dump garbage into the lake. When I object, they abuse me.’’ Hanumanthappa, a resident of Krishnarajpuram said that a portion of the lake has been converted into a slum with the active support of local politicians.
He said, “Politicians encourage slums with an eye on their votes.’’ Meanwhile, B Jayaram, Assistant Conservator of Forests said efforts are being made to hand over the lake to the BBMP. “We are ready to hand over the lake to the BBMP, as per state government’s decision but they are not coming forward to take up its maintenance work,’’ he said.
However, B Heera Nayak, Joint Commissioner (Mahadevapura division) BBMP said efforts were being made to takeover the lake from the forest department.
“We have sent a proposal to the BBMP commissioner on the need to rejuvenate Gangashetty Kere. We will take up the development work as soon as we receive funds,’’ he said.
Talking about the existence of a slum on the lake bed, Nayak said an action plan needs to be prepared to either clear the encroachment or regularise the slum.
“We will soon take suitable action on the encroachment of the lake,’’ he said.