Residents petition authorities to save millennia-old lake in Whitefield

By Aratrika Dey

Resident-led civil rights group Namma Whitefield has filed an online petition to the Apex Committee on Lakes besides asking for help from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner and the Karnataka Chief Minister. They want the authorities to kick start the rejuvenation process of Pattandur Agrahara Lake and free it from the land sharks who have forged documents to encroach the precious open space. As part of Save Pattandur Agrahara Lake campaign, the citizens are demanding an immediate survey of the entire lake property and demarcation of lake boundaries, besides identifying and marking of the water body’s buffer zone. Additionally, they want the eviction of the encroachers in and around the lake, and proper allocation and execution of lake rejuvenation funds.

What prompted the online plea

For the last forty years, the Pattandur Agrahara Lake 54 in Whitefield remains illegally encroached by a private party through a fraudulent land tribunal order. Subsequently, a lake that holds significant historical value to Karnataka has been abused and vandalized and “has since been reduced to being a swamp,” says Sandeep Anirudhan, convenor of Namma Whitefield RWA Federation.

Back in 2017, the BBMP initiated the construction of a road across the lake. The citizens protested against the mistreatment of the lake. In the wake of filing a few Public Interest Litigations (PILs) and gaining enough media traction, the state government asked the Advocate General of Karnataka to file a fraud case against the invaders for due eviction. In July 2018, the High Court of Karnataka passed an order reinstating the status quo of the lake. “After that, we citizens were hoping that the government will take appropriate action to evict the encroachers and begin the restoration of the lake,” says Anirudhan. “But it has been more than two years now, and in between COVID-19 struck, so we have not seen any action on the matter so far.”  

Besides, by law, every lake has a designated 30-meter buffer zone. Buffer zones are not suitable for heavy concrete constructions as these are an impediment to the upkeep of water bodies. Therefore, raising heavy buildings in such areas is illegal, and also affects the groundwater levels of the city. According to the list of lake violations mentioned in the online petition, illegal constructions have kept cropping up, occupying parts of the buffer zone and the lake bed, including private and public buildings issued by the BBMP. “A lot of fresh new buildings have been constructed, some even after the court order. By default, it is a violation of the court order as well,” says Anirudhan. As the lake boundaries lack fencing, unchecked dumping of garbage has also become a regularity, alongside construction and demolition-related waste.

What has happened till now?

The citizen’s fight to save their lake is on-going. “The residents living in and around the area have organized themselves as Namma Whitefield and we have been pushing the campaign forward, and putting pressure,” says Anirudhan. “We raise the issue every month during the Ward Committee meetings. We will not let the issue slip past the authorities.” BBMP chief engineer BT Mohan Krishna who is in charge of lake-related projects said that he has no information or updates to provide about the issue.