After a heavy overnight downpour, ORR and the city have reached a standstill. Still, after two months for the monsoons to retreat, Bengaluru’s nightmare is far from over. While locals struggle to stay afloat after heavy rains inundated the city in recent days, a question screams to wriggle into the spotlight:

What happened to Bengaluru’s lakes?

Choked in the name of development…

According to an encroachment report on lakes released by the BBMP last year, out of 204 lakes handled by the BBMP, only 20 lakes have been spared from encroachments. The detailed report mentioned that about 131 lakes have already been encroached on for various purposes, where both the government and private entities have been involved.

Notably, 764.32 acres in the vicinity of 28 lakes have been encroached by government structures alone, like roads, railway lines, and highways.

Here’s a brief list of lakes encroached and the purposes for which they were breached:

• Marenahali lake                   Marenahalli layout
• Challaghatta lake                  Karnataka Golf Association
• Siddapura lake                      Siddapura/Jayanagar 1st block
• Tumkur lake                           Mysore Lamps
• Agasana lake                          Gayathri Devi park
• Sampangi lake                       Kanteerava stadium
• Dharmambudhi lake          Kempegowda bus terminal
• Koramangala lake                 National Dairy Research Institute
• Hosakere                                 Residential Railway Stockyard
• Hennur lake                            Nagavara HBR layout
• Banaswadi lake                      Subbayapalya Extension
• Sunkal tank                             KSRTC regional workshop
• Ramshetty Palya Kere            Milk colony (playground)
• Chinnagara lake                      Ejipura
• Gangashetty lake                    Minerva mills and open ground
• Jakraya lake                             Krishna flour mills
• Shule tank                                Ashok Nagar, football stadium
• Akkitimmanahalli tank         Sai Hockey stadium
• Chennasandra lake                Pulla Reddy layout
• Oddarapalaya lake                 Rajajinagar (Industrial area)

“One must remember that encroached areas are prone to flooding. Therefore, lake areas should not be touched. Changes in structural and land use patterns could also lead to property and economic losses. We need to do our urban planning in a more diligent manner. There is a ray of hope, as lakes can be revived and restored without much difficulty, ‘ Ram Prasad, the co-founder of NGO Friends of Lakes, asserted.