Several groups of citizens have been dedicating their time and effort to rejuvenating and maintaining lakes in their neighbourhood. But with the condition of many lakes seeing little improvement, with some making it to international headlines for deteriorating further, many active groups have decided to join hands and form the Federation of Bengaluru Lakes.
Sandeep Anirudhan, who is part of the Pattandur Agrahara RWA Federation, which has been fighting to save Pattandur Agrahara lake, said the collective was formed after a meeting of groups in May, where they decided to chart out a common strategy. As many as 33 lake groups are part of the federation.
Support to new lake groups
The new lake federation will also act as a support group to volunteers who are part of new lake groups. “Lake groups are spontaneous groups of citizens and many of they are not aware of the legal issues or the documentation aspects. Usually, all these groups have sufficient number of volunteers, but they need the help of specialists to guide them in the process of protecting or preserving lakes. We hope to also act as a knowledge base to help volunteers understand the lake ecosystem, how to nurture and revive a lake. It is also vital to understand the importance of rajakaluves and how important wetlands are for a lake,” he said.
Pressure group for policy making
The group plans to act as a pressure group for policy making. The earlier State government had repealed the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority. The group plans to lobby with the new government to reverse this decision.
V. Ramprasad, co-founder and convenor of Friends of Lakes, said it was exclusively a citizens’ group that also had legal and technical experts who would help and handhold newer lake groups. They had already pooled in with many companies who want to utilise their Corporate Social Responsibility funds to rejuvenate lakes.
“Companies can directly approach the federation to get help regarding the procedure and process involved in lake development,” he said.
Usha Rajagopalan from the Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust said that they have been working to improve Puttenahalli lake since June 2010 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the BBMP in May 2011. “The 13-acre dying lake is now a thriving water body with public participation. While we have been working individually with regard to improvement of lakes in our respective neighbourhoods, we feel that we will have collective bargaining power with the government if we come together,” she said.
