The document summarizes Bangalore's lake systems and the issues they face. It notes that Bangalore once had 262 lakes in 1961, but that number declined to 127 in 1986 and 117 in 2003 due to urban expansion. The lakes are interlinked in a chain and help with groundwater recharge. However, many have been leased to private companies, restricting public access. There have been protests and court cases around privatization and efforts to better protect and restore the critical lake systems.

1. Protection of Bangalore’s Lakes Environment Support Group Bangalore www.esgindia.org Email: [email_address]

2. Lakes of Bangalore The lakes in Bangalore form a chain of hydrological connection through them. The flow of water runs from North to South-East as well as South-West along the natural gradient of the land. During monsoons, the surplus water from the upstream lake flows down into the next lake in the chain and from there further down. The lakes thus forms a chain of reservoirs in each of the three valley systems. Each valley at the ridge top gives birth to small streams. These cascades down to form major stream systems in three valleys namely Hebbal Valley, Koramangala & Challaghatta Valley and Vrishabhavati Valley . These valleys are the repository of all the lakes in Bangalore and these lakes themselves are interlinked to each other through a series of chains of lakes giving a cascading effect to the whole system.

3. Loss of Lakes With the expansion of the city,Bus station, Stadium, High Rises, New Layouts replaced the lakes and disrupted the chain of reservoirs in the city

4. Bangalore’s Lake system

5. Yellamalppa Lake Series Name of the Lake Area in Ha 1. Bantkondanahalli 42 2. Amanikere, Singanayakanahall 178 3. Yelahanka Doddakere 136 4. Kattigenahalli 2.5 5. Kogilu 180 6. Gramadakere, Allalasandra 16.8 7. Jakkur 50 8. Amruthahalli 9.3 9. Rachenahalli 60 10. Kodigehalli 21 11. Chikkamaranahalli 10 12. Kacharakanahalli 22.5 13. Kalkere 75 14. Ramapura 5 15. Basavanapura 56.6 16. Seegehalli 5 17. Yellamallappa Chetty 110

6. Varthur Lake Series Name of the Lake Area in Ha 1. Byappanahalli Lake 3.23 2. Haralur Lake 5.16 3. Kasavanahalli Lake 8.9 4. Kaikondanahalli Lake 27 5. Doddanakundi Lake 47 6. Vibhuthipura Lake 30.2 7. Kundalahalli Lake 10.48 8. Chinnappanahalli Lake 56.8 9. Varthur Lake 180.4

7. Byramangala Lake Series Name of the Lake Area in Ha 1. Byamangala Lake 350 2. Maragondanahalli Lake 56.8 3. Bheemanakuppe Lake 39.6 4. Kombgatta Lake 15 5. Bovi Basappanakere 27.1 6. Gangondanahalli Lake 15 7. Halekere, Nayandahalli 5.8 8. Doddakere, Hosakerehalli 24.16 9. Mogakere, Uttarahalli 7.1 10. Subramanyapura Lake 11 11. Dorekere, Uttarahalli 11.6

8. Madavara Lake Series Name of the Lake Area in Ha 1. Laxmipura Lake 4 2. Chikkabanavara Lake 27.5 3. Dasarahalli Lake 24 4. Doddabidarakallu Lake 18.4 5. Herohalli Lake 13.5 6. Andrahalli Lake 46.7 7. Narasappanakere 7.75 8. Hosakere, Nallakadarenahalli 8.1 9. Hosakere, Shivapura 49 10. Madavara Lake 24

9. Puttenahalli Lake Series Name of the Lake Area in Ha 1. Lalbagh Lake 12.9 2. Yediyur Lake 6.45 3. Byrasandra Lake 6.19 4. Sarakki Lake 0.81 5. Puttenahalli Lake 32

10. Hulimavu Lake Series Name of the Lake Area in Ha 1. Agraharadakere, Begur - 2. Alahalli Tank 15.79 3. Arakere Lake - 4. Beguru Doddakere 3.23 5. Gottigere Lake 14.83 6. Govindashetty Lake - 7. Hulimavukere 9.84 8. Jigani lake -

11. Greater Bangalore with 265water bodies

12. Where did the lakes go? Year Number of Lakes 1961 262 1986 127 2003 117 (official)

13. Attempts at protecting lakes Laxman Rao Committee recommendations: No layout be formed in tank bed areas either by the BDA or any other authority. Water sheets should be maintained wherever possible and sewerage and other pollutants should be suitably diverted. Dried lakes be developed as tree parks. LDA set up in 2002, as an agency for protection and maintenance of lakes.

14. Leased Lakes Google map view of Hebbal and Nagawara tanks

15. Between 2004 & 2007, LDA leased out Nagawara, Hebbal ,Vengaiahana Agara and other lakes to private companies. Developers altering the character of the lakes because of activities like food courts,restaurants and amusement parks Restrictions on people’s right to access open spaces LDA: Choosing Profits over people ?

16. Lakes dependent Livelihoods Fisherfolk, Dhobis, Agriculture, Harvesting of lotus are some of the livelihoods that are dependent on access to lakes.

17. Pil Against Privatisation of Lakes PIL against the privatization heard by the High Court Status Report of the lakes prepared by the PCCF, on the direction of the Court, strongly makes a case against privatization Protests at Agara lake by local residents. Legislative Council passed a resolution disapproving the leasing out of lakes to private parties. On November 4, 2008, High Court passes an interim order restraining the Government and private parties from further investment in developing lakes under the PPP model. Need for a policy framework for maintenance of the lakes .

18. Importance of lakes for groundwater recharge

19. Court appointed committee examines the realities and prepares a comprehensive report for the preservation of lakes.

20. Key recommendations of the report include Immediate action to remove encroachments from lake area and also the Raja Kaluves (canals interconnecting lakes). "lake restoration is to be taken up based on lake series/sub-series and not in isolation“. Stop entry of raw sewage into lakes and penalise offenders. Select lakes that are relatively undisturbed and rehabilitate them into drinking water reservoirs. Lakes which have very high biodiversity, especially of migratory waterfowl, will be notified for conservation under the Wetland (Conservation and Management Rules), 2010, per the Environment Protection Act. Promoting the involvement of local communities in lake preservation and restoration, the report recommends constitution of lake management committees involving local residents and voluntary organisations. Further, the report highlights the need to protect the interest of traditional users of the lakes such as dhobis (washerpeople), fisherpeople, etc.