City’s lakes come alive, so does animal life

BENGALURU: The heavy rainfall might have thrown life out of gear for most Bengalureans, but it has also filled up several lakes which were earlier devoid of water.The Halagevadera Halli lake, popular as RR Nagar lake, was almost totally dry for years, but is now brimming with water. “The lakebed was so dry that youths would play cricket on it,” said Dodde Gowda, the Home Guard official in charge of the lake.
A resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar said, “There was not a single drop of water in the lake for the past 5-6 years. Several issues led to the lake being dried up, including multiple encroachments in its buffer zone and lack of a sewage treatment plant (STP).”

Agara lake, with an area of about 98 acres, was still under rejuvenation process when the rains began. According to Jayakrishnan G, a member of Agara Lake Protection and Management Society (ALPMS), dewatering and desilting of the lake was complete, and due to the proceses, there was little water in the lake. However, after only 2-3 heavy spells of rain, the lake started overflowing.

“Though sewage is still flowing into the lake, the extent of contamination has reduced due to the addition of fresh water,” Jayakrishnan said. He added that the rate of water seepage from the lake would be high for 4-5 years due to the desilting done, but because of the unexpected rainfall, the lake might sustain itself until the next monsoon.

At Nagawara lake, the water level increased by three feet from 7 ft to 10 ft, and the lake, like several others in the city, overflowed. Technical in-charge officer of the lake Gopi P said this has led to an increased yield for the fisheries department, who carry out fishing in the lake.
“The lake has at least 20 pelicans too, which may be due to the increase in the number of fish. There is also more vegetation around the lake now,” he said.

As per reports, the level of water at Yediyur lake increased by four feet and overflowed the embankment after heavy rainfall in August, when part of a retaining wall of the lake had collapsed. BBMP Executive Engineer (lakes) Ravi said all but one of the 90 lakes under the BBMP’s preview had got filled up after the rains started.