It’s slow death for Gottigere lake

Bengaluru: Despite hue and cry from environmentalists and citizen groups, and rulings by high court and pollution control boards, the authorities have failed to act against inflow of sewage water into the city’s lakes and other water bodies, thereby endangering their very survival. One such picture of glaring neglect is Gottigere Lake, located at Gottigere village on Bannerghatta Road. The high court and Karnataka Pollution Control Board (KPCB) have issued many rulings, but the authorities have failed to stop the entry of sewage water into this lake.

In fact BWSSB has laid an underground drainage pipe from nearby Basavapura village to dump sewage water directly into the lake! Apart from making the water impure, the sewage water also chokes the lake’s water sources. Currently Gottigere lake has shrunk in area and the remaining water cover area has been covered by water hyacinth.Rajendra Menon, a nearby resident said, “Half of the area has become a dumping yard. People, shops owners and hotel staff come and dump garbage here every day.” Voicing a similar opinion Sarabjit Kumar, another resident said, “Many villagers are now using this lake as a grazing ground for their cattle. And there is a foul smell on one side of the lake, thanks to the inflow of swage.”

In 2011, taking note of the disappearing lakes in the city, the high court had formed a committee, headed by Justice N.K. Patil, to recommend guidelines to preserve city lakes. One of the recommendations was comprehensive development of Gottigere Lake among other lakes, but this recommendation continues to remain on paper till date. Soumya P, a resident said, “In the name of development and infrastructure projects, the authorities have ignored the most important thing that is protecting the water bodies in the city. My father used to take us to this lake for bird watching during our childhood. Today we hardly see any birds here.”

In 2009, Gottigere Lake grabbed the limelight when allegations of NICE Road encroaching into the lakebed came to the fore. The matter was subsequently taken to the court by environmentalist Suresh Heblikar. The high court had ordered NICE to change the alignment of the expressway to ensure the lake ecosystem and inflow of water were not disturbed. Following this, the alignment was changed.
However the inflow of sewage water and dumping of waste has shrunk the lake and reduced it to a breeding ground for mosquitoes.