Bangalore’s lakes: Choked by the IT web Tehelka - The People's Paper

Tehelka - The People's Paper: "

Bangalore is a global brand which signifies India's prowess in information technology. But the city that boasts of being the Silicon Valley and the Garden City is on the verge of disaster: its lifelines — lakes — are drying up.Five decades ago, there were more than 250 lakes which took care of the city's water needs and cooled the people during the summer. According to a study by the Centre for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, only 17 lakes are alive today though state officials claim that it could be 64.Of the 17, at least three are fast drying up. The IISc team found that these lakes were being choked systematically and would eventually result in their disappearance. Sources say the city's water landscape that was 4.8 percent earlier has come down to 2 percent.The state government constituted an authority in 2002 to curb encroachment in lakes but it is too feebleCitizens groups and lay the blame on the real estate lobby which targets isolated water bodies to encroach upon given the city's ever-growing demand for commercial space. (snip)

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