“Mother Earth is a source of life, not a resource”

– Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Meenakshi Mall, Vega City, Commercial Street, Church Street, Blossoms, etc.! After hearing about such lovely places in Bangalore, how overexcited you become and plan to visit them as long as you are staying in this majestic place or even if you are one of the locals!? But Lakes??? No one ever must have thought of it or only 10% of people which include the locals, must have visited them.

Lakes in Bangalore, Karnataka are heteromorphic and, most of them were fabricated nearly around the sixteenth century. These lakes were constructed by tethering the natural valley system.

We all know that beauty lies in the hands of nature; but the beauty of these lakes was snatched by the cruel hands of Urbanization. Urbanization had its great impact on these beautiful lakes of Bangalore, resulting in only 17 lakes to still exist in the heart of the city. These lakes exist against 51 good ones in 1985. The margin of difference is very huge, and one can imagine how much Urbanization has influenced our surroundings.

The effect of urbanization has converted 19 lakes into bus stands, play grounds, golf courses, residential colonies, office spaces, etc. But, after looking at their worse conditions, the government took the responsibility of saving the lakes through the interference of Lake Development Authority in respect of three lakes which was proved to be a bit disputed and even resulted in the fluctuation of the policy.

History

We must have always looked at the beauty of any lake or must have felt relaxed while sitting and staring at it for a long time. If you have ever visited Lal Bagh lake, then you know that it’s the best spot for Nature Lovers!  But, have we ever wondered about the story behind God’s gift to mankind? Specially in this case of the lakes in Bangalore?

If we look at the history of the making of lakes in or around the place, we will find that the story revolves around the founders of Bangalore or Bengaluru, which were the Kempe Gowdas, then in later sixteenth century, the Wodeyars of Mysore Empire and the British.

These lakes were constructed for man-made purposes like irrigation, washing and specially for fishing purposes. The waters of these lakes also served people as Dhobi Ghats or places which washer men used as a means of livelihood for washing as well as drying of clothes.

These lakes vanished due to the construction and invasion brought about by Urbanization as mentioned earlier. Once these beautiful cities had 280 or 285 lakes. Out of which, 7 were never kept track of, 7 were diminished into small water pools,18 have been encroached by slums and 14 dried up and have been leased out by the government. Further, 28 lakes are being used by Bangalore Development Authority while the remaining are proceeding towards effacement.  

Have we ever wondered or tried to figure out, what actually were the reasons behind such a dynamic change in the lakes of the Garden City?

Maybe we never even thought of it because those were the days when people actually used to love sitting by the side of a lake or cared for these natural resources. Now living in an era of technology and progressing towards development, we might be expressing our love for these resources through photography along with a beautiful caption but would never think about caring for it in real life. This thing is the saddest reality of life – that we are not living in reality but are enjoying living unrealistically.

The City of Bangalore, once famous for its lakes made by the Kempe Gowdas, Wodeyars and the British, is now apparently famous for the places which have been built by destroying those lakes. The reason behind the deaths of these wetlands is due to urbanization, as we know. But what exactly is leading to their deaths is something we never thought of. Some plausible reasons can be:

• Due to poor decision making from bureaucracy
• Due to not implementing well organized regulatory rules.
• Due to no cooperation and coordination among the trustee of the lakes which led to its poor maintenance.

Present Situation of the Wetlands

A recent study shown by a team of investigators in which Prof. Ramchandra expressed his views about the situation which the lakes are in. He felt sad in mentioning about the sources we have to save these resources but due to lack of initiatives and interests it is not happening. He stated that the studies showed:

• 98% of the lakes’ silt are illegally mined by mafia groups.
• 90% of the them were sewage fed; sewage being not treated properly, along with dumping of waste materials, specially the solid ones.
• It was even found out that 80% of lakes among them were polluted.
• The saddest part was that none of the lakes were suitable for drinking purposes.
• Mylasandra lake water was the only one fit for drinking.
• Fish deaths were found in Lal Bagh, Sankey Tank, Jakkur and Munnekolala lakes.
• Even foam formations were seen in some lakes like Bellandur, Sarakki, etc.
• Reports of fire and smog seen in Bellandur lake.
• Lakes in Koramangala valleys were stated as the most polluted among all.

As responsible citizens not only of a nation, but also of the mankind, it’s our duty to save lakes no matter which place we belong to. It’s our responsibility to keep them safe and healthy. Not only our duties are towards lakes in Bangalore, but, towards every natural resource due to which we are alive, and our living is luxurious. We can heal the world and can make it a better place to live in. Just think before you act!

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”

– George Bernard Shaw