Bengaluru lake activists say shrinking buffer zone disastrous for tech capital
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Experts and lake activists have questioned the govt on why buffer zones should be reduced and are now asking Karnataka Conservation and Development Authority (KTCDA) to list the benefits of shrinking the buffer zone for the city. The Karnataka govt had recently approved Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill-2025, reducing buffer zones around lakes from the existing 30 meters to between 3 and 24 meters, depending on the lake size.
Lake activists, while discussing the proposal during a public consultation organised at Bengaluru Town Hall, led by the actor and activist Prakash Belawadi, Saturday, feared the move will increase concretisation and shrink waterbodies further.
Quotes
TV Ramachandra, convener, IISc Environmental Information System
Buffer zones or floodplains are vital as they absorb excess water, prevent flooding, and allow natural remediation.
They should be kept green so that no construction is allowed, but instead of protecting them, we see them being choked, narrowed, and swallowed by vested interests, a move that will only worsen flooding and destroy Bengaluru's livability.
V R Hegde, hydrologist
Buffer zones around lakes and streams are hydrologically essential. Reducing them disrupts natural drainage, increases flood risk, and destroys ecological services these waterbodies provide.
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Waterbodies are endowments from our forefathers, not our creations, and we have no right to demolish or vanish them.
Shyam Prasad, founder and director of Clean Water Dynamics and hydrologist
If we don't have buffer zones we will have shoreline erosion, fragmented infrastructure, poor water quality, sedimentation… It is really beyond me to understand who is coming up with further reduction of these zones.
Prakash Belawadi, actor and activist
We will be taking all the required inputs from experts and citizens to compile solid proof, data, and information to fight the proposed amendment in the near future
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