Once in neglect, Channasandra lake gets second lease of life
Around 9 a.m. on Saturday, a crowd of around 100 took to the streets of Kasturinagar in East Bengaluru. Members of the Kasturinagar Welfare Association (KWA) and the residents danced, while women and children dressed in green and white were holding placards, as they made their way to the B. Channasandra lake.
Once spanning about 19 acres in area, the lake over the years shrank to 6.3 acres due to neglect, dumping of garbage and construction debris, and sewage flowing in. As Bengaluru faced one of its worst droughts in 2023, the KWA and the residents united to revive the lake that had been long neglected.
June 14 marked the formal inauguration of a revived B. Channasandra lake, which N. Ravindrakumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bengaluru, termed as a testament to the work put in by the residents of Kasturinagar. The invite to the event, too, was along similar lines. 'When people come together, nature finds its way back,' he said.
'Initially, a group of 100 volunteers decided to contribute ₹1,000 every month as we began to work on the lake,' said Abhijith N.S., a KWA volunteer.
Initial work involved desilting the lake using a tractor and heavy machinery as garbage was removed and the land was levelled along the waterbody. A compound wall was later built around the lake.
As the project grew in size, KWA collaborated with Hands on CSR, an NGO that helped with funding, and CGI, a software company, that helped release CSI funds which was necessary to complete the project.
Since the lake came under the Karnataka Forest Department, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) was issued by Mr. Ravindra Kumar as work began from October 11 last year. The excavation lasted around five weeks as further desilting and desludging were done.
The estimated cost of the project totalled ₹1.15 crore with a three phased funding.
The project faced a few challenges. 'Sometimes, we received threats from real estate agents who had their eye on the land, but thanks to the Forest Department, everything went smoothly. We aim to preserve and make this as a forest lake,' Mr. Abhijith said.
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