Resurrecting the legacy of Bangalore's lakes

I invite you all to post ideas and solutions on how we can work together in conserving assets that are truly unique to Bangalore - Lakes.

Here is an excerpt from some recent articles, to provoke thought.

Renuka, an old Bangalorean said, “When we were young, some of the lakes were such wonderful picnic spots. It was a lovely sight to see children playing in the Vrushabhavati river when we travelled to Mysore way back in 1960s.

“But now, Vrushabhavati looks is a sewage drain. Our children don’t believe us when we tell them about the river’s past glory.”

Lakes were created basically for hydrological reasons. The main idea was to save the monsoon run off in the valleys for use in lean seasons. This also helped in checking floods, recharging and maintaining the ground water table. Lakes and tanks also act as sediment traps and prevent clogging up of natural valleys and reduce erosion by regulating run off. Lakes and Tanks belong to wetland ecosystem and have a larger biological and ecological role. The lake biodiversity is so rich that it supports lot of life forms in and around the lake.

Host to a variety of avian species not found anywhere else, ornithologists point out that Bangalore attracts migratory birds from as far as the Himalayas and Central Asia. The abundance of tanks and water bodies gardens and parks are the primary reason.

In the early decades of the 20th century, the Great Indian Bustard, a rare birds species, was a regular visitor to Bangalore citv. So was the Lesser Florican, sighted at the turn of the century. Now both are not to be found as the wetlands and grassland they frequented for nesting have vanished.