By Anuksha Dey
Members of the Community Task Force (CTF) met at Somasundrapalya Lake early in the morning yesterday, armed with their brooms, cleaning equipment and saplings to plant. Tired of administrative delays by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the residents of the area have taken the maintenance of the water body into their hands. However, the upkeep of the area, without proper security guards, is proving to be a herculean task for them.
Lake cleaning drive
The resident’s body started a weekly lake cleaning drive in January. After two weeks, the group decided to make their visits to the lake more frequent after realising that merely cleaning the area every Sunday was not enough and decided to meet on Thursday as well. The CTF meets at the lake to clean the track surrounding it and beautify the area by planting trees.
However, the lake area has been severely neglected by the BBMP who is in charge of maintaining it. “I have been here for 13 years and no major development has taken place before 2019,” says BV Lalithamba, a passionate social activist and member of CTF. Lake conservationist Kavitha Reddy says, “All attention is devoted to Agara Lake while smaller lakes such as Somasundrapalya, Puttenahalli and Mangammanapalya are ignored by the elected representatives and officials.”
Lake rejuvenation efforts
Unmaintained by the BBMP, the Somasundara Palya lake had almost completely dried up in 2019. The area surrounding the water body was encroached by residential buildings, temples and even by the authorities.
Despite all odds, the lake was given a new lease of life by the citizens. “In 2019, we started following up with different officials, engineers and contractors. We started monitoring their work and supervising,” says Ramakant Nargund, a member of CTF. “Rs 6 crore had been sanctioned for the lake’s rejuvenation. In the first phase, Rs 4 crore were spent on erecting an inner fence around the lake and internal bedding work.”
Today, the lake is brimming with water, an inner fence has been put up, and many residents can be seen enjoying the beauty of the serene water body. The task force has planted fruit trees around the area and a few birds have made the lake their home. However, problems are still aplenty at the lake.
Encroachments
Encroachments at SS Palya Lake is not a new issue. The problem has been going on for over eight years now. The lake area has been invaded by four encroachments: a play area built by SV apartments, the KCDC plant, a Muneshwara Swamy temple, and Ayappa temple. A residential complex had encroached a triangular area near the lake about four years ago. This has been removed and BBMP has promised to remove the encroachment by the KCDC plant. However, the presence of two temples on the encroached land has complicated the issue. “Activists can’t agitate against these encroachments as it is a sensitive issue,” says Reddy. “I have received death threats a few years ago just for speaking to the media about this issue. We have chosen to take the legal route instead.”
According to Reddy, four surveys were done, and yet the BBMP asks citizens to go to the survey department again. “They are not ready to remove these encroachments,” she says. “Instead, they want to regularise these temples and hand it over to the Muzrai Department under the government. This means the encroachments will not be removed and become a part of the lake area.”
The Ayappa temple adjacent to the lake takes up considerable space. “We were supposed to have a community hall and a children’s’ park here, but the land has been encroached by them,” says Nargund.
The Muneshwara temple has built a structure that infringes 10 feet into the lake area. “Though the structure is small, we may have to give up a large amount of land because of it,” says Lalithamba. “The outer fence will have to be put in a way that the structure lies outside it and this will make the track surrounding the lake 10 feet narrower.”
Residual RDF material
The KCDC plant too seems to have done its share of damage to the area before the decision to remove it was taken. “They have dumped RDF material in the lake area itself and this issue is yet to be resolved,” says Lalithamba.
Refuse Derived Fuel or RDF is highly flammable. This has put the lake at risk of fire hazards. There were incidents of fires breaking out in the area a few years ago. “They have put sand on the RDF now to stop fires from breaking out,” says Lalithamba. “But this makes it harder to remove the RDF material. We have lost 4 acres of lake land because of this.” The residents have proposed creating a tree park in the area. However, this will take time as the RDF has to be cleared first.
Vehicles entering lake area
The lack of security measures at the water body allows vehicles to enter the lake premises. Two-wheelers can be seen zooming through the already-narrow walkway. The land is also being used by BBMP buses as a parking lot. The heavy vehicles leave their footprints on the path during the monsoon season, making them uneven and unsightly. A number of learners also practice their driving in the lake area, making it unsafe. “Just this week there was a case of two vehicles racing each other; one of them crashed into the inner fence and damaged it,” says Reddy.
Wetland maintenance
The SS Palya lake has a dedicated area for wetland creation. Wetlands act as natural sewage treatment plants, cleansing the water of all its toxins before it flows into water bodies. However, the wetlands at SS Palya are not well maintained. To make matters worse, the lack of security makes it easy for children to sneak into the bund separating the main water body from the swamp.
Lack of security
The SS Palya lake currently does not have any gates, nor does it have any security guards. In the absence of this, miscreants continue to litter and damage the lake property even as the task force does its best to maintain it. “Rejuvenation is of no use as people are entering the lake and littering it,” says Reddy. However, Nargund is more hopeful: “The next phase of rejuvenation has already been sanctioned; Rs 2 crore is devoted for the cause. We are hoping that the gates and a proper outer fence is constructed soon.”
Hopes for the future
The residents have big plans for the SS Palya lake. They are hoping to build a four-acre tree park, a community hall and a children’s park. However, for all of this to happen, BBMP must step up their game and support the community-driven rejuvenation efforts.
