Activists, environmentalists and citizens urged the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (KTCDA) to cancel the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it has entered into with various corporates for the rejuvenation and maintenance of some lakes across the state, six of which were in and around Bengaluru. These include as Doddakallasandra lake, Sarjapura lake and Doddanagamangala lake among others.
At the first-ever meeting organised by KTCDA for residents and stakeholders, attendees brought up complaints and suggestions on ways to improve Bengaluru’s lakes.
Leo Saldanha of the (Environment Support Group) said there was an urgent need for a systematic, scientific approach for the rejuvenation of lakes across the State. Quoting N.K. Patil’s report on lakes, he said that private sector participation would be based on their commercial interests and not in the interest of the lake or its ecology. “This colonisation of lakes by corporates should immediately be stopped,” he said.
In December 2019, MoUs for development of lakes in the city was signed by the State Government, which had also advertised that it was open for CSR funding for rejuvenation and maintenance of lakes.
Environmentalist A.N. Yellappa Reddy criticised the meeting itself as most senior officials from concerned government departments had not attended it. “The Chief Minister is the chairman of KTCDA. I urge him to chair such sessions with secretaries of the government agencies that are even remotely related to lakes. Only then will something concrete can be expected from such sessions,” he said.
He pointed out that lakes in the city were all disconnected and storm water drains (SWDs) were encroached.
