Kukkarahalli lake — spread across 234 acres in the heart of the city and reckoned to be the pride of the Manasagangotri campus — which was starving for freshwater, may bounce back to life as the water body has started getting rainwater from its surroundings.
Thanks to the recent cleaning of water inlets that flowed rainwater into the lake, the water body, in the last few days, managed to get copious freshwater with rain lashing the city.
Mysuru Grahakara Parishat and other concerned personalities, who are keen to see the lake restored to its old glory, had suggested for clearing the inlets, which remained blocked since many years. University of Mysore, the caretaker of the lake, and the Mysuru City Corporation jointly cleared the inlets.
“Of the 13 water inlets to the lake, eight of them have been cleared of blockages and water flows into the lake from these inlets when it rains. This is a positive step towards the lake restoration. I myself noticed that the water level was up during my recent visit to the lake,” Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep told The Hindu.
Mr. Randeep, who shared the pictures of rainwater (sourced from MGP) flowing into the lake during the recent showers, said the remaining water inlets will also be cleared and added that he has sought sketches of Poornaih Canal (another source of water to the lake) from the Deputy Director of Land Records.
“Wherever it is possible we will clear the water inlets as part of medium-term measure. As a short-term measure, we want to strengthen the inlets that have become visible and sourcing water to the lake,” he said. Mr Randeep said ₹135 lakh that was set aside for dredging the lake was available under the lake fund since dredging work was not carried out following expert advice.
“I want to use these funds to strengthen these inlets, make them more visible, and ensure that they don’t cave in or be encroached upon in future. These inlets will get masonry work for longer life. They will look like stormwater drains,” he explained.
University of Mysore Executive Engineer Kishore Chandra told The Hindu that the unblocking of these inlets had led to the free flow of rainwater into the lake and recent rains helped in filling the lake to some extent.
But, the question is why were these inlets blocked all these years and why no effort was made to get them cleared long ago to ensure rainwater to the water body.
