A few lakes are still beautiful, including Hebbal Lake

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Bengaluru wasn’t always “Silicon Valley”. Earlier in its history it was known as the City of Lakes, or India’s Garden City. There are no rivers nearby, and the lakes are a human creation: most were constructed in the sixteenth century by the city’s founder, Kempe Gowda, and expanded throughout the following centuries as later rulers and then the British administration continued to develop the lake system.

The lakes made Bengaluru a city of extraordinary biodiversity. They teemed with fish, including carp and tilapia. Freshwater turtles and frogs sang in the evenings; and the skies were full of kingfishers, herons, brahminy kites, weaver birds, and many more.

Bangalore was a city of exceptional beauty thanks to the lakes, and their practical value was even greater. Farmers always had enough water to irrigate their fields, and generations of fishermen have fed the city with their fresh catch. The whole city benefitted from clean drinking water, and washermen and women were always to be found at the Dhobi Ghats. The lakes even had a favourable influence on the city’s microclimate, and helped replenish the groundwater and drinking wells.

It was a huge technological achievement for the sixteenth century. Yet now, nearly five hundred years later, it has been almost completely destroyed. Lakes are the life blood of Bengaluru, and without them it may not survive.

Toxic foam from Bellandur Lake overflows into canals and streets

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For today’s residents of Bangalore, the “Garden City” of a century ago is hard to imagine. Every day, they see lakes clogged with plastic detritus and weeds, stinking of sewage, the water hardly visible. At times it becomes a dystopian nightmare: in 2017, Bellandur Lake – the largest body of water in the city - caught fire and burned for over twelve hours, with huge clouds of smoke covering the city.

Of course, water can’t catch fire. But, these days, the lake is only partly water. It is filled with effluent from nearby industries and homes, and covered with rubbish that has been dumped illegally.

In 2015 the same lake became covered in thick froth, a result of the chemical waste in the lake. It blew over the city on the summer wind, landing on streets, cars, and the city’s inhabitants. It was toxic enough to peel the paint off cars, and left many people with serious respiratory problems.

Bengaluru once had over 280 lakes, now reduced to 194; the rest have been built over, or have dried up into small puddles. According to an Indian Institute of Science study, water bodies declined by 85% between 2000 and 2014.

Of the remaining lakes, only 21 have good water quality, reported a recent study by the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). A further 63 have poor water quality, with limited use for irrigation only. The water of 36 lakes is unfit for any purpose, even irrigation. Local farmers have reported cattle dying after drinking it.

In many cases, it was impossible to test the water quality at all, as the lakes had dried up or become too clogged with weeds.

Anand Malligavad, lake conservationist

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The government has not made any adequate response to the urgency of this environmental crisis, which threatens the lives of millions of inhabitants of the city.

Instead, committed individuals are taking up the challenge. Anand Malligavad, an engineer and water conservationist, gave up his job several years ago to dedicate himself full-time to rejuvenating Bengaluru’s lakes. A new short documentary by Vikram Singh about Malligavad’s work is well worth watching, showing the challenges he faces at every turn as well as his extraordinary success.

“Bangalore was a lake city. Not now. So many lakes we buried, we destroyed. We have a huge water crisis on one side. Another side, huge pollution,” says Malligavad. Yet he is passionately determined, choosing positive action.

“Today we should rejuvenate, today we should change. We should not blame anyone, like governments or anything. Youths like me, corporates, resident welfare associations – we should join hands with each other. We should bring the pressure to the government that we want this lake, we want to change.”

The documentary shows Malligavad talking to locals who have experienced health complaints after coming into contact with polluted water. "Living close to this water, with the chemicals, it's doing strange things to our bodies. [...] It's like an allergy", says a farmer who lives by one of the lakes. "His whole body was covered in blisters because of this water," adds his wife. "We've spent so much time in hospital."

Malligavad wanted to do something about it. He spent the whole of 2016 studying lake management and consulting experts. Then, in 2017, he used what he'd learned to bring one “dead” lake back to life. And another the following year. Two more in 2019. The experience is paying off and he's learned to work more efficiently, cleaning and restoring six lakes in 2020.

He's aiming to rejuvenate a total of 45 lakes by 2025, with water that's clean enough to swim in. Local people will be able to use it for irrigation, and the vegetation that grows up in the area will bring back the biodiversity and restore the livelihoods of farmers. Clean lakes store groundwater, that will feed into the city's water supply. It means that Bengaluru will have a chance of survival.

Kyalasanahalli Lake, before and after revival in 2017

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Of course, there are state plans to restore the lakes as well. The Bengaluru municipal administration (BBMP) have set aside Rs 100 crore to rejuvenate 25 lakes in the city and divert the sewage that currently pollutes them. Work is already in progress – but, as with most state initiatives, progress is painfully slow.

Nevertheless, the story of Bengaluru’s lakes feels tentatively positive.

It took far too long. It took lakes clogged up with plastic, burning with toxic fumes, for the administration to realise the severity of the crisis. The delay meant years of sickness for people who live by polluted lakes. Nothing happened until there was a real danger that the city would become unfit for human life, with insufficient clean water to meet the needs of its people.

Yet human determination and ingenuity may be enough to tackle this environmental disaster, saving the city and restoring Bengaluru’s title of “City of Lakes”. Just in time.