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About
lakes of Bangalore
The
naturally undulating terrain of Bangalore City, with its hills and
valleys, lends itself perfectly to the development of lakes that
can capture and store rainwater. Each valley at the ridge top gives
birth to small streams. These cascade down to form major stream
systems in the three Valleys :
1.
The Hebbal Valley
2. The Koramangala - Challaghatta Valley
3. The Vrishabhavati Valley.
As
the area is part of the semi-arid tropics( Annual Rainfall 859mm),
the forefathers of the city wisely used streams between ridges and
valleys and created man-made lakes by damming the streams at appropriate
places. Thus the lakes form chains of reservoirs in each of the
three valley systems. Each lake harvests rain water form its catchments
and the surplus flows downstream spilling into the next lake in
the chain.
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Bangalore's
lakes are homes to a diversity of living beings from microscopic
plants and animals to birds and large fishes. Birds like
Purple Moorhen, Pheasent-tailed Jackana, Cormorants, Brahmani
Kite, Darter, Kingfishers, Weaver Birds, Purple Herons, Grey
Herons, Pond Herons, Dab Chicks, Coots, Teals, etc can be
found here.
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The
water flora here includes typha, lily, lotus, algae, tapegrass,
mosses, ferns, reeds and rushes.
Bangalore's lakes are home to fauna like Freshwater Turtles,
Frogs, Naids, Crabs, Molluscs and more. Fishes like the Common
Carp, Grass Carp, Katla, Rohu, Ompok bimaculatus, Notopterus
notopterus, Anguilla bicolor bicolor, Puntius ticto, Puntius
dorsalis, Thilapia Sp. and Cirrhinus mrigalai swim in its
waters.
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Status
of lakes in Bangalore
During
the middle of the last century Bangalore city had as many
as 262 Lakes, Ponds and marshy wetlands, which ensured
a high level of groundwater table and also used to maintain
local climate in the city. But in recent years many lakes
of Bangalore have been lost in the process of various anthropogenic
activities and population pressures leading to unplanned urbanization
and expansion. Rest of the surviving lakes is reduced to cesspools
due to direct discharge of industrial effluents domestic sewage
and unregulated dumping of solid wastes. Many lakes have been
encroached due to their valuation resulting in drastic shrinkage
of water bodies in the city. In fact, in the name of development
many lakes have been already put to alternative use. For example
bus stands, stadiums, layouts etc. In fact due to rapid industrialization
and urbanization the number of lakes in and around Bangalore
has gone down from 262 to 127 out of which only 81 are said
to be live.
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Once
upon a time,
there was a lake here.....
Bangalore
city Bus Stand,
once Dharmambudhi Tank |
The
KGA Golf Course stands on
what was once the Challaghatta Tank
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The
Koramangala Tank is today
a Sports Complex |
A
Sports stadium today...
this was the Sampangi Tank earlier |
The
overall impact of these activities have resulted in -
�Deterioration
of lake water quality
�Sedimentation
and Shrinkage
�Decrease
in productivity to support flora and fauna
�Loss
of aesthetic values and decrease in tourism potential
�Affects
the ground water sources
�Growing
mosquito menace
�Renders
the water unfit for recreational purposes
�Causes
serious health hazards
�Climate
change
�Shortage
in drinking water
�Illegal
encroachments and slum development leading to lake pollution
TopS
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