Bengaluru’s lost lakes to get ₹50 crore makeover with pathways, fencing, and more at 24 sites

Bengaluru allocates ₹50 crore for rejuvenation of 24 lakes, focusing on desilting, sewage diversion, and public access improvements.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday announced that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has earmarked ₹50 crore for the revival of 24 lakes across the city. The move is part of a larger push to restore Bengaluru’s long-lost identity as the “City of Lakes.”

Nearly dried up Mallathahalli Lake as the city witnesses acute water shortage in Bengaluru. (PTI photo)

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Shivakumar wrote, “Bengaluru was once called the ‘City of Lakes’, and we’re working to bring that legacy back… Every restored lake takes us one step closer to the Bengaluru we all remember.”

Key allocations:

The ₹50 crore allocation will fund a wide range of lake rejuvenation activities including desilting, sewage diversion, fencing, pathways, and improvements to inlets and culverts.

Among the major beneficiaries of this initiative:

Kalkere Lake – ₹10 crore

Kacharakanahalli Lake – ₹3.5 crore

Siddapura Lake – ₹1.75 crore

Doddabidarakallu Lake – ₹3 crore

Other lakes will receive funding between ₹75 lakh and ₹3.5 crore, depending on their size, condition, and restoration needs.

Civic upgrades in focus

The lake revival project would also prioritize sewage diversion, a key issue in urban waterbody degradation, along with enhancing public access through fencing and walking pathways.

The announcement comes amid growing public concern over disappearing lakes and unchecked urbanization. Environmentalists have often pointed to poor maintenance and encroachment as major reasons behind the city's shrinking waterbodies.

By some estimates, Bengaluru was once home to over a thousand lakes, one crowdsourced effort even pegged the number at 1,521. A more widely accepted figure suggests the city had around 280 lakes, of which only about 80 now remain under the jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).