As the tentacles of the city spread across the rural plains, the first victims, it seems, are the lakes.
The progress report of the Joint Legislature Committee on Lake Encroachments, headed by K.B. Koliwad, throws up worrying statistics when it comes to lakes on the city’s outskirts.
While the core areas of the city have seen around 14 per cent of their lake area encroached, two neighbouring taluks that have witnessed rapid expansion in the past decade have seen more than one-fourths of their lake area disappear.
To put it in perspective, the tabulated private encroachment in just Devanahalli and Hoskote taluks is nearly 3,900 acres, or around 600 acres more than what is lost in seven other taluks that comprise Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts. And unlike Bengaluru Urban district, where a sizeable number of ‘encroachments’ came through government action of formation of layouts and construction of bus stations and stadiums, the encroachments in these taluks seem to be primarily by private entities.
Water conservationist S. Vishwanath believes that while the extent of encroachment was surprising, it was along expected lines. Devanahalli taluk, for instance, sees lower rainfall, and lakes tend to dry off fast. “And dried up lakes are ripe for encroachment … much of the encroachments are recent and have occurred over the past decade,” he said.
Vijayapura and Dandiganahalli lakes have entirely turned into farmlands; while, Bettakote lake adjacent to Kempegowda International Airport is seeing layouts and farms eating into its tank-bed.
Outskirts in troubleThe research of Indian Institute of Science ecologist T.V. Ramachandra — who looked at the spatial growth of the city for the past four decades — shows that the city’s biggest growth areas have been in north (Devanahalli towards the international airport) and the east (International Tech Park Ltd. at Whitefield).
“When lakes are disappearing in the city in front of our eyes, the effect is worse on the outskirts, where lakes are frequently breached and filled up. Unfortunately, when we wake up to it, a majority of them would have gone,” he said.
However, he believed the encroachment of lakes were uniform throughout the taluks, with quarrying and sand extraction rampant.
Devanahalli: Growth takes off with airport
Drivers of growth: Kempegowda International Airport, elevated expressway towards Devanahalli
Estimated population in 2016: 2.28 lakh
Population growth (2001 to 2016): 23.04 per cent
Lakes
Number of lakes: 117
Un-encroached lake: 1
Encroachment extent (private): 1,446.35 acres
Percentage of lake area lost owing to encroachment (government and private): 24.2
Lake encroachers: 2,014
Hoskote: Filled with IT, industrial parks
Drivers of growth: Major IT firms and large-scale residential projects in Whitefield, Hoskote Industrial Estate
Estimated population in 2016: 2.91 lakh
Population growth (2001 to 2016): 31 per cent
Lakes
Number of lakes: 192
Un-encroached lakes: 13
Encroachment extent (private): 2,430.38 acres
Percentage of lake area lost due to encroachment (government and private): 31.55
Lake encroachers: 3,056