3 hours ago
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With the monsoon having acceptable in, water conservation activists and experts successful the metropolis person raised concerns implicit respective lakes being filled with treated water, informing that this could pb to flooding successful immoderate areas.
As portion of an effort to amended groundwater levels successful the metropolis pursuing the terrible h2o shortage successful summertime 2024, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has been filling galore lakes with secondary treated water. So far, BWSSB has filled 23 lakes, including the ones successful Kengeri, Ullal, Madavara, Herohalli, Jakkur, Rachenahalli and Allalasandra. Work is connected to capable different 40 lakes, including Hebbal, Nagavara, Doddabidarakallu, Mahadevapura, Sheelavanta and Sadaramangala.
No sluice gates
Activists person cautioned that filling lakes successful the metropolis to the brim with treated h2o could make problems arsenic rains arrive.
“This has compromised their h2o retention capacity. There is nary abstraction for the incoming rainwater. Moreover, nary of these lakes person sluice gates for authorities to negociate h2o levels arsenic rainwater comes into these lakes. This could perchance pb to section flooding. Even if the monsoon is weak, determination could beryllium precise dense rainfall events arsenic seen successful erstwhile years, which we should beryllium acceptable for,” said V. Ramprasad, president of the Federation of Bengaluru Lakes.
Raghavendra Pachapure, a nonmigratory of Kengeri associated with ActionAid, an NGO, said galore lakes, including Kengeri lake, were filled done the year, against their earthy cycle.
“Most of the lakes successful the metropolis adust up successful summer, erstwhile desilting works utilized to beryllium carried out, and past capable up again during the monsoon. We person started reasoning astir these lakes successful a precise human-centric mode and seeing them arsenic instruments for groundwater recharge. We person converted them into thing similar overhead tanks, but connected the ground. This is not bully for the biodiversity of these lakes,” helium said, pointing to the seasonal rhythm of lakes.
Plan connected paper
When erstwhile Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai held complaint of Bengaluru Development portfolio, helium earmarked ₹35 crore for sluice gates astatine lakes pursuing floods successful Mahadevapura and K.R. Puram successful 2022. However, the task did not instrumentality off. Eventually, the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) prepared a elaborate task study (DPR) successful 2023 to instal sluice gates astatine 102 lakes, but the task again did not instrumentality off.
A elder civic authoritative said sluice gates would beryllium installed arsenic portion of the clime resilience task taken up with funds from the World Bank loan. He besides said a gradient is being maintained betwixt the inlet and outlet and that this would forestall flooding.
