Bengaluru: Jaraganahalli lake vanishes, bungalows, huts come up

Bengaluru: Near the J.P. Nagar Metro station on Kanakapura Road, the illegal hutments, garbage debris and sand lorries camouflage the existence of Jaraganahalli Tank that existed for more than a hundred years, till it was overrun by encroachers.

The activists now want the encroachments be demolished and Namma Bengaluru Foundation on Monday had a meeting with the activists to discuss ways to reclaim the lake. 

History
In 1999, the High Court had directed the state government not to convert the Jaraganahalli Tank into layouts. The forest department was also ordered to prevent the felling of trees. The court papers accessed by Deccan Chronicle reveal that not only the order allowing water to be collected in the tank was violated, but nothing was done to prevent garbage dumping and allowing sand lorries to be parked on the tank bed. Member of Save Yelachenahalli Lake campaign Aleem said not just hutments, even bungalows have come up on the erstwhile lake. “If we go by the map it clearly shows the extent of the lake. The Storm Water Drain (SWD) was also encroached. The pottery factory to the construction debris, every method was used to encroach the lake. It is high time to reclaim it,” he added. Aleem has started an online petition demanding to reclaim the lake. Nearby residents claim the lake was a picnic spot in the 1970s and flocked by migratory birds. However, in 1995 it fell prey to the land mafias, some of whom even enjoyed ministerial positions across all the party lines.  A. Bhanu was a lone warrior in the early 1990s, but his attempts to restore the lake were futile. “The drains were blocked and sewage was let into it. After a few years the encroached area was converted into a school playground and a slum came up on the remaining area. In 2008, the LDA engineer inspected the lake and left leaving the water body to its state,” Bhanu added. Dishaank is a Karnataka government app from Revenue Department. It provides land details across Karnataka. The images show Jaraganahalli water body as a tank in the satellite images along with survey numbers. The playground is also a part of the lake. A building also has been constructed on lake bed. On Tuesday when we reached the spot to take pictures of the encroachment we were stopped by the lorry drivers and people involved in the sand business. The local activists said that they too have faced threats and intimidation whenever they wanted to take up the issue.