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BBMP halts works at city lake after protest
On Wednesday, the BBMP also put up a poster at the site which read, “From Hosakerehalli lake, no permanent road will be constructed inside the lake. Only temporary mounds of mud are being prepared for the movement of tippers and machinery for removing debris and silt. After removal of silt, the temporary mound of mud will be removed.” HT has seen the poster.
Days after images and videos of the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike dumping truckloads of soil in the middle of Hosakerehalli Lake surfaced, triggering protests by residents and activists, the civic body took a U-turn, denying building a road through the waterbody on Thursday.
The road being constructed was temporary since the civic body was carrying out de-silting work, said BBMP special commissioner Ravindra.
On Wednesday, the BBMP also put up a poster at the site which read, “From Hosakerehalli lake, no permanent road will be constructed inside the lake. Only temporary mounds of mud are being prepared for the movement of tippers and machinery for removing debris and silt. After removal of silt, the temporary mound of mud will be removed.” HT has seen the poster.
However, activists alleged that he civic body is building an approach road through the lake to benefit large apartment complex.
“The BBMP put up the poster as a reaction to the hue and cry on media. Otherwise, inside the lake why should they build such a solid construction? They are desilting in Varthur and Bellandur lake as well, but they have not built any roads there. It clearly looks like a base preparation for a road construction. Now, they are doing damage control,” activist and convener of Citizens’ Agenda for Bengaluru, Sandeep Anirudhan, said.
Reacting to the development, conservationist Joseph Hoover said when he called BBMP lake engineer Shilpa, the official said she was “not aware of the ongoing works at Hosakerehalli lake.”
“The 52-acre had been encroached and was revived four years ago. But sewage water seeped in and destroyed the water body. Development is welcome. But should the government partly destroy the lake, especially when researchers from EMPRI (Environmental Management & Policy Research Institute) had cautioned that 17 districts in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, will have water shortage soon?” Hoover asked.
While BBMP special commissioner Ravindra on Thursday assured people that the debris dumped in the middle of the lake to form a two-lane road will be “removed immediately”, activists pointed out that the move was in violation of the Central Wetland Rules, under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) which states that no construction of any kind is permitted either in the lake bed, or in the lake buffer zone.
“We got a complaint regarding the issue and concerned officials rushed to the spot for inspection...We are making a bund for a walking path. We are also taking up sewage diversion work.We are not constructing a road here. Our intention is to retain this as a lake. I have directed the officials as well for clearance,” Ravindra said.
“There is the EPA Act. Then there is the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (KTCDA) Act. There are also the National Green Tribunal rules. Under all the three, no construction is permitted inside a water body or lake. No construction is allowed in the buffer zone of the lakes too. So, if any construction happens in these areas, it’s a violation of the law. The BBMP should be aware of it. The civic body also has a lakes division which is supposed to protect these lakes. So, the BBMP has failed in both,” Anirudhan pointed out.
Activists also said that the BBMP had undertaken a similar project in 2017, by dumping soil into Pattandur Agraha lake, which was eventually halted due to opposition from citizen groups and environmentalists. The KTCDA had also served a cease work notice on the BBMP in June 2022.
“We held a big protest in which around 5,000 people participated. After 2-3 years, they changed the road alignment and tried to build it next to the lake. That is also a violation because it falls into the lake’s buffer zone. We raised a complaint after which the KTDCA issued an order saying it is illegal and then they stopped it in August 2022,” Anirudhan said. “In both the cases, it was done with some vested interests for the real estate lobby. All the officials are mostly hand in glove in such cases,” he alleged.
