Bengaluru’s lakes are now in the news either because of foul-smelling foam form the lake or because they are drying up. The 23-acre Alahalli lake next to Amruth Nagar Main Road had sewage flowing lines from residential areas nearby. Including, number of garbage was being disposed on the lake by residents and commercial establishment. However, some of the local citizen group came and urged the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to restore the lake. And now the work has almost come to an end.
Alahalli lake is coming back to life
In 2016 the Banglore Development Authority (BDA) had floated tenders to rejuvenate the lake but no prominent work was carried out. However, this citizen group decided to take permission from the BDA to clean up the lake themselves. Initially, in the same year, the lake was taken over by the BBMP.
Hence, the BBMP sanctioned Rs 9 crore to restore the waterbody. Initially, of which Rs 6 crore was spent on weeding and Rs 3 crore was spent on sewage pipelines and other works. What’s more, is that the sewage is diverted to Vaderahalli Lake which is 10 km downstream.
The initiatives
In 2008 and 2009, the lake was so polluted that it forced some citizens to clean up the waterbody themselves. The rejuvenation work took up last year. Now, the work is almost finished with the help of citizens and the BBMP.
“A citizen group was formed in 2012 to clean the area around the lake. We could only clean the black spots. We could not do anything about the sewage entering the lake without the civic body’s help,” a volunteer in Save Alahalli Lake tells DH.
In the present situation, the Palike has taken up the second phase of the work that includes lake bund beautification and the construction of a walkers’ track. BBMP engineers and volunteers involved in lake rejuvenation also said they are on a mission to revive lakes in the city and would complete it soon.
