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Residents of Kavoor now fightingto revive sprawling 15-acre lake

The pristine waterbody is now filled with sewage and covered by hyacinth

Published - January 01, 2019 01:33 am IST - MANGALURU

Hyacinth has covered most of the Kavoor Lake in Mangaluru.

Hyacinth has covered most of the Kavoor Lake in Mangaluru.

Oswald D’Silva (50) still remembers his childhood days when he carried raw arecanut on coracle (Theppa) from his field on the one side of Kavoor Lake to his another field on the other side. He also has fond memories swimming in this vast lake.

Mr. D’Silva is a member of the Kavoor Swachha Abhivrudhi Mandal which has been fighting for over five years now for the revival of the lake as it is filled with hyacinth.

“We are taking up the issue with Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil S. We hope he will bring all stakeholders together and take steps to revive the lake,” he told The Hindu .

The lake, which is among a few big water bodies in the city, is adjoining the old Mahalingeshwara Temple in Kavoor. The water from the lake was being used for rituals in the temple. A Pushkarni was constructed in a part of the lake where various rituals were being performed.

This sprawling 15-acre lake is among the two maintained by Minor Irrigation Department. However, drains from Padavinangady, Mary Hill, Bondel and Kavoor, which once brought rainwater to the lake, now dump sewage into the lake, he regretted. Considerable silt is accumulated in the lake as the drains also bring animal and other waste. Leakage from sewer lines on the lake bound also adds sewage to the lake, he added.

It was in 2011 that the State government took up the work of removing silt and beautifying it at a cost of ₹ 1 crore. The then district in-charge Minister Krishna J. Palemar initiated the work as part of a programme to develop lakes in the city. Except for laying embankment and building a mud path on the lake bund, there has been no improvements in the condition of the lake and its surroundings.

The residents then sent a proposal to the Minor Irrigation Department for diversion of four drains and repair of leaking manholes at a cost of ₹ 5 crore. This was not accepted by the department.

Kavoor area councillor Deepak Poojary said that the Mangalore Urban Development Authority has come forward to develop the lake if the Minor Irrigation Department raises no objections. The three leaking manholes will be repaired with funds from the Asian Development Bank, he said.

An official from the Minor Irrigation Department said that the department was in favour of granting one-time permission to the urban development authority to develop the lake.

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