The beautiful lake called Herohalli is on Magadi Road. Spread over 15 hectares, it is a sight to behold in the rains. The lake has water and is lush green with portions of wetlands blooming. Birds fill the air with their sound. There is plenty of fish for them to feed on. The walking path around it has been beautifully done and one can walk all around the lake.
As with many other lakes, the largest stormwater drain feeding the lake brings with it untreated sewage and solid waste. Here an innovative design was incorporated. A large grill was placed at the entrance to trap plastics and solid waste. Sewage water was diverted through a system into underground sewage lines. Through an innovative sewage mining process, 1.50 million litres per day was picked up and treated through a new process called soil biotechnology, known popularly as SBT. The SBT uses a vertical filtration design and on top looks like a beautiful park with rows of bushes and flowering plants. The treated waste-water meeting design standards then is supposed to go into the lake through a wetland, to be further polished.
Two years ago, the system was set up and was working reasonably well. The system was happy enough to advertise for 9 more lakes to get such SBT plants.
Dismal scenario
Alas the situation is dismal today. The SBT plant lies derelict, the pumping room and well is vandalised. The bushes and shrubs are withering. The grill meant to hold back plastic and solid waste has been broken. The wetlands are full of plastic and rubbish.
Herohalli lake bravely holds on amidst the mess. The benches to sit on are empty however and one hardly sees any people using the space.
The question to ask is why are we not able to manage and maintain the systems we create, to solve a problem? Is it an issue of finance? Technical and human capacity? Or a lack of willingness to put in the effort?
In lake after lake, we see crores of rupees being invested in capital expenditure but nothing done at all for maintenance. Fences are broken. Garbage dumped. Sewage enters the lake and sewage treatment plants become dysfunctional.
A syndrome
Unless we think through the lifecycle of a project, invest in both skilled capacities and finances right at the beginning and involve the community right from the planning stage we will repeat what is famously described as the build, neglect, rebuild model.
The city cannot afford such mismanagement especially with its water resources. It is time we rectified this disastrous approach and make sure that every paisa we invest is used wisely and lasts long.
