Can a tank bund be converted into a pucca asphlated road? The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) thinks so. The civic body has granted ₹8 crore for the construction of a 40 ft asphalted road on the tank bund of Doddabommasandra lake in Vidyaranyapura under the Nagarothana grants.
The road, if built, will be in clear violation of the National Green Tribunal order of May 2016, that has set the buffer zone around lakes at 75 m. The road is on the tank bund and is part of the lake, not even its buffer zone, activists have pointed out. The Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) has also taken objection to the road and written to the BBMP, said Seema Garg, CEO, KLCDA. B.V. Sathish, Chief Engineer, Lakes, BBMP, also said that the lakes division was not consulted over the road.
This comes months after the local residents led a vociferous campaign against wetlands adjoining the lake being dumped with silt dug up during rejuvenation in October 2016. It was later revealed that plans were afoot to build a park and an open-air gym, a deviation from the Detailed Project Report (DPR). The plans were later dropped following public outcry.
V. Ramprasad, a local resident and a lake conservation activist, said there were unconfirmed reports of wetlands being filled to build a road to access private lands at the other end of the lake, where an apartment was reportedly coming up. “Then they claimed plans were to develop a park. But now the agenda is clear. They have got a 40 ft wide road sanctioned in clear violation of the tank bed area. The road seems to be under way only to give access to private lands, which we fear will lead to further encroachment of the lake area,” he said.
Madhuri Subbarao, a resident who led the 2016 campaign, said there were repeated attempts to build the road and it was a clear violation of the DPR for the rejuvenation of the lake. “We have repeatedly complained to BBMP and KLCDA to no effect,” she said. Local civic officials said the tank bund was used as a traditional walkway to connect Doddabommasandra and Kodigehalli for many decades now and the road was being planned following public demand from the residents of Kodigehalli. The road, if laid, will reduce the distance by over 2 km, the officials said. However, the traditional walkway is less than 15 ft wide which is now being widened by dumping debris to over 40 ft, residents complain.
BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said he would examine the road project again. “If KLCDA had taken objection and the road is within the buffer zone of the lake, we cannot construct a road. We will drop the road and utilise the funds allocated for the road for other road works in the same Assembly constituency,” he said.
Published - August 09, 2017 12:54 am IST
