The trend of lakes drying up is not restricted to Bengaluru. In neighbouring Chickballapur district, 201 lakes come under the Minor Irrigation Department. However, when social activist N. Gangadhar asked how many had reached full capacity in the past five years, the reply was: “Just one.”
Officials said that only Dandikanahalli lake had reached full capacity but only for two years.
The 201 lakes can store up to 8,000 million cubic feet of water. In addition, their watershed is spread over another 21,700 hectares. The situation is all the more confounding considering that the Department insists that none of the lakes has been encroached upon.
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D.A. Chowdappa, environmentalist, says that the district has seen a spurt of sand mining activity over the past decade owing to its proximity to the State capital.
“Nearly 2,000 truckloads used to be transported from Chickballapur to Bengaluru. How can lakes recover after the bed has been shaved off?” At the same time, mining had led to the death of the non-perennial rivers in the region, he added.