A state of fear: Bellandur Lakebed dries up

Dr TV Ramachandra of the Indian Institute of Science, conducted a study and according to the report the Bellandur Lake is supposed to be 14 feet deep. The residents had been noticing that the lake has dried up in the past few days. “Over last week, we noticed water receding from the lake and a blackish deposit was seen on the lake’s bed. We contacted Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) on October 28,” said Bellandur resident Sonali Singh.

BDA officials have figured that the dark deposit was organic mass which had been collected on the lakebed over the years. “There is so much silt deposited on the lakebed that it can hardly hold water now. We thought that the water had been evaporating due to heat, but when we checked with the experts they said that evaporation cannot dry up a lake to this extent,” said BA Shivananda, engineer at BDA.

Lake expert Ram Prasad, who’s also the founder of Friends of Lakes, clarified, “It is most likely a natural process. Evaporation or percolation loss is not more than 0.5 cm every day. But now that sewage has reduced, it is an opportunity for us to clean and restore the lake back to its natural form.”

Residents are in state of fear that if more of the lakebed emerges and the water dries up. Impending water shortage will occur too. “The new government has not engaged with the citizens’ groups for the development of the lake at all,” complained Sonali Singh.

Dr Sharachchandra Lele, differentiated it to the fellow Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, has an explanation for the receding water. “Bellandur Lake has two types of inflows, that is, treated water from STP and untreated sewage water coming in from Ejipura side. The government has already diverted the treated water to Kolar under the Kolar water project and is trying to send the Ejipura sewage water to the STP for treatment. This has added to the evaporation loss. There is another inlet from Agara, which brings in 100 MLD water. So the lake is not likely to completely dry up any soon,” he said.