Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala has signed the amendment to the Tank Development Act, which replaces the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA), which was formed in 2016, with the Minor Irrigation Department as the regulatory body for Bengaluru’s lakes, said two senior officials.
Several organisations and citizens’ groups, such as the Friends of Lakes (FoL) and the Environment Support Group (ESG), have decided to challenge the amendment in the High Court.
V. Ramprasad, convenor, FoL, said the amendment was passed in the Assembly without any debate and handing over the city’s lakes to the Minor Irrigation Department will take the focus away from rejuvenation and conservation of the water bodies.
“With KLCDA, there was a focus on the ecological sustainability of lake ecosystems. But the Minor Irrigation Department has a different orientation of water for agriculture and drinking purposes. Handling over urban lakes to the department will be an issue,” he said.
Opening up lakes for exploitation
The Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (KTCDA), chaired by the Chief Minister, can permit construction of roads, bridges within the tank area, if the water-holding capacity of the tank is not reduced. The particular provision will open up lakes for exploitation, activists fear.
“This particular provision only makes it legal for real-estate companies to encroach tank areas. This cannot go unchallenged,” Ramprasad said.
Another sore point is that the new set-up under the KTCDA will also take away the participative management of lakes.
Activists argue that the KLCDA was not without its problems.
Leo Saldanha of ESG said the KLCDA Act, 2014, was a fall-out of the ESG’s petition challenging privatisation of lakes in the High Court.
“The State government gave an undertaking in the court in 2012 that they would form a representative people’s authority for conservation and management of lakes. But without any discussion with the stakeholders, the government went ahead and formed a parastatal organisation – KLCDA, with only lip service to citizen participation,” he explained.
He further said that replacing KLCDA with KTCDA would make no difference. “As the original petitioners before the High Court, we are concerned that the spirit of the 2012 order has not been followed. We will challenge this again. But the governments have been taking regressive steps,” he lamented.
Custody of lakes to remain with local bodies
One of the major concerns citizens had expressed was that the custody of lakes in the city would be wrested away from local bodies. However, sources confirmed that it is unfounded.
A senior official in the Minor Irrigation Department said custody of lakes will remain with local bodies, such as the BBMP and the BDA in Bengaluru. “Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority replaces KLCDA as the regulator for lakes, but it will not take up custody of lakes,” the official said.
Another senior official argued that the formation of the KTCDA in 2014, followed by the KLCDA in 2016, resulted in a duplication of regulatory authorities with similar functions. “The latest amendment is only a correction of this anomaly,” he said.
However, the jurisdictions of KTCDA Act and KLCDA Act differ significantly. KLCDA Act, 2014 applies to lakes within the limits of all municipal corporations and the BDA, essentially covering all urban lakes. The KTCDA Act applies to the remaining lakes in the State. The amendment now has effectively erased this differentiation and brought all lakes in the State under the KTCDA.
