Protection of Bangalore’s

LakesEnvironment Support Group

Bangalore www.esgindia.org

Email: esg@esgindia.org

Lakes of Bangalore The lakes in Bangalore form a

chain of hydrological connection through them. The flow of water runs from North to South-East as well as South-West along the natural gradient of the land. During monsoons, the surplus water from the upstream lake flows down into the next lake in the chain and from there further down. The lakes thus forms a chain of reservoirs in each of the three valley systems. Each valley at the ridge top gives birth to small streams. These cascades down to form major stream systems in three valleys namely Hebbal Valley, Koramangala & Challaghatta Valley and Vrishabhavati Valley. These valleys are the repository of all the lakes in Bangalore and these lakes themselves are interlinked to each other through a series of chains of lakes giving a cascading effect to the whole system.

Loss of Lakes With the expansion of the

city,Bus station, Stadium, High Rises, New Layouts replaced the lakes and disrupted the chain of reservoirs in the city

Bangalore’s Lake system

Yellamalppa Lake SeriesName of the Lake Area in Ha

1. Bantkondanahalli 42

2. Amanikere, Singanayakanahall 178

3. Yelahanka Doddakere 136

4. Kattigenahalli 2.5

5. Kogilu 180

6. Gramadakere, Allalasandra 16.8

7. Jakkur 50

8. Amruthahalli 9.3

9. Rachenahalli 60

10. Kodigehalli 21

11. Chikkamaranahalli 10

12. Kacharakanahalli 22.5

13. Kalkere 75

14. Ramapura 5

15. Basavanapura 56.6

16. Seegehalli 5

17. Yellamallappa Chetty 110

Varthur Lake Series

Name of the Lake Area in Ha

1. Byappanahalli Lake 3.23

2. Haralur Lake 5.16

3. Kasavanahalli Lake 8.9

4. Kaikondanahalli Lake 27

5. Doddanakundi Lake 47

6. Vibhuthipura Lake 30.2

7. Kundalahalli Lake 10.48

8. Chinnappanahalli Lake 56.8

9. Varthur Lake 180.4

 

Byramangala Lake Series

Name of the Lake Area in Ha

1. Byamangala Lake 3502. Maragondanahalli Lake 56.83. Bheemanakuppe Lake 39.64. Kombgatta Lake 155. Bovi Basappanakere 27.16. Gangondanahalli Lake 157. Halekere, Nayandahalli 5.88. Doddakere, Hosakerehalli 24.169. Mogakere, Uttarahalli 7.110. Subramanyapura Lake 1111. Dorekere, Uttarahalli 11.6

 

Madavara Lake Series

Name of the Lake Area in Ha

1. Laxmipura Lake 4

2. Chikkabanavara Lake 27.5

3. Dasarahalli Lake 24

4. Doddabidarakallu Lake 18.4

5. Herohalli Lake 13.5

6. Andrahalli Lake 46.7

7. Narasappanakere 7.75

8. Hosakere, Nallakadarenahalli 8.1

9. Hosakere, Shivapura 49

10. Madavara Lake 24

Puttenahalli Lake Series

Name of the Lake Area in Ha

1. Lalbagh Lake 12.9

2. Yediyur Lake 6.45

3. Byrasandra Lake 6.19

4. Sarakki Lake 0.81

5. Puttenahalli Lake 32

Hulimavu Lake Series

Name of the Lake Area in Ha

1. Agraharadakere, Begur -

2. Alahalli Tank 15.79

3. Arakere Lake -

4. Beguru Doddakere 3.23

5. Gottigere Lake 14.83

6. Govindashetty Lake -

7. Hulimavukere 9.84

8. Jigani lake -

Greater Bangalore with 265water bodies

Year Number of Lakes

1961 262

1986 127

2003 117 (official)

Where did the lakes go?

Attempts at protecting lakes Laxman Rao Committee

recommendations: No layout be formed in

tank bed areas either by the BDA or any other authority.

Water sheets should be maintained wherever possible and sewerage and other pollutants should be suitably diverted.

Dried lakes be developed as tree parks.

LDA set up in 2002, as an agency for protection and maintenance of lakes.

Leased LakesGoogle

map view of Hebbal and Nagawara tanks

• Between 2004 & 2007, LDA leased out Nagawara, Hebbal ,Vengaiahana Agara and other lakes to private companies.

• Developers altering the character of the lakes because of activities like food courts,restaurants and amusement parks

• Restrictions on people’s right to access open spaces

LDA: Choosing Profits over people ?

Lakes dependent LivelihoodsFisherfolk, Dhobis,

Agriculture, Harvesting of lotus are some of the livelihoods that are dependent on access to lakes.

Pil Against Privatisation of Lakes• PIL against the privatization heard by

the High Court• Status Report of the lakes prepared by

the PCCF, on the direction of the Court, strongly makes a case against privatization

• Protests at Agara lake by local residents.

• Legislative Council passed a resolution disapproving the leasing out of lakes to private parties.

• On November 4, 2008, High Court passes an interim order restraining the Government and private parties from further investment in developing lakes under the PPP model.

• Need for a policy framework for maintenance of the lakes .

Importance of lakes for groundwater recharge

Court appointed committee examines the realities and prepares a comprehensive report for the preservation of lakes.

Key recommendations of the report include

Immediate action to remove encroachments from lake area and also the Raja Kaluves (canals interconnecting lakes). 

"lake restoration is to be taken up based on lake series/sub-series and not in isolation“.

Stop entry of raw sewage into lakes and penalise offenders.

Select lakes that are relatively undisturbed and rehabilitate them into drinking water reservoirs.

Lakes which have very high biodiversity, especially of migratory waterfowl, will be notified for conservation under the Wetland (Conservation and Management Rules), 2010, per the Environment Protection Act.

Promoting the involvement of local communities in lake preservation and restoration, the report recommends constitution of lake management committees involving local residents and voluntary organisations. Further, the report highlights the need to protect the interest of traditional users of the lakes such as dhobis (washerpeople), fisherpeople, etc.