Performance audit on Conservation and Ecological restoration of Lakes under the jurisdiction of Lake Development Authority and Urban Local Bodies
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Neither the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board nor the implementing agencies had complete data on the pollution levels in the lakes. The
assessment of pollution was inadequate and the water quality of none of the test-checked lakes conformed to the prescribed standard. Major source of
pollution in Bengaluru was sewage which could not be regulated by Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board. The construction of underground
drainage lines to convey sewage was still under progress and the treatment of sewage was inadequate. The diversion of sewage, due to it being untreated,
from the inlets to the waste weir of the lakes resulted in drying up of lake beds, and loss of its ecological characteristics.
Chapter V - Paragraphs 5.1, 5.2 and 5.6
Deficiencies were noticed in restoration works carried out by the implementing agencies. Works like de-silting were carried out excessively
and without justification. Improper construction of embankments prevented free inflow of run-off water from the surrounding catchment areas thereby
reducing the water inflow into the lakes. Instead of priortising core works for lake rejuvenation, non-core works were given undue significance. The
agencies had not assessed the impact of pollution in lakes and related risks to human health, biodiversity and ground water.
Chapter V- Paragraphs 5.5, 5.7 and 5.10
Preservation of biodiversity in the test-checked lakes was badly affected due to destruction of gentle slopes on shorelines and formation of ringed elevated
bunds. This caused irreparable damage to the fragile wetland ecosystem and resulted in loss of habitat of aquatic weeds and birds. No buffer zone within
30 metres of the periphery of the lake was ensured; instead it was observed that the buffer zone had been breached in several cases.
Chapter VI
Lake specific findings of the 12 test-checked lakes indicated that in most cases restoration works were carried out without arresting sewage flowing into the
lakes and water quality was not being monitored. Works were also undertaken without removal of encroachments.
Chapter VII
Performance audit on Conservation and Ecological restoration of Lakes under the jurisdiction of Lake Development Authority and Urban Local Bodies
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Chapter I Introduction
1 Background
Lakes are an important feature of the Earth’s ecosystem. Lakes
1
are transitional areas between dry terrestrial and permanent aquatic ecosystems.
They provide a wide diversity of values and uses such as for supply of water, food, fodder, fuel, fishery, aquaculture, timber production, transport,
ecotourism, culture and heritage, research and educational values, etc. Lakes, in general, have the characteristics such as catchment area for water run-
offcatchment drainage system, foreshore region, wetland formation with aquatic vegetation, water spread area with flora and fauna, bund for supporting
storage of water, waste weir for excess outflow of water, etc. There are 36,568 lakestanks in Karnataka
2
, which are under the control of various authorities.
Due to rapid urbanisation and change in land use pattern, the lake areas including catchment areas have been encroached in many cases. This led to
reduced inflow of water into lakes, thereby resulting in numerous lakes being lost over the years. Many lakes have lost even their original characteristics.
Some of the prominent lakes that have lost their characteristics are given in Appendix 1.
Owing to the above reasons, the State Government felt the necessity to constitute July 1985 an expert committee headed by Shri. N. Lakshman
Rau, IAS Retired to look into various aspects relating to preservation and restoration of the existing lakestanks. The Committee, inter alia,
recommended that efforts should be made to ensure that these lakes are not breached but retained as water bodies. Lakes should not be polluted by
discharge of sewage, effluent and industrial wastes; off-shore area of lakes should be protected and suitable areas adjoining the lakes should be earmarked
for recreational and tourism activities. They also recommended the construction of more tanks along the natural valleys which have a run-off.
The State Government accepted 1988 the recommendations made by the Committee. Important recommendations of this Committee are mentioned in
Appendix 2. The State Government also constituted July 2002 the La
ke Development Authority LDA registered under the Societies Act to regulate
and monitor the conservation, rejuvenation and restoration of lakes. Despite the above measures, encroachments and pollution in lakes could not
be contained, leading to several public interest litigations. The Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka, as part of its proceedings, appointed November 2010 a
Committee headed by Justice N.K. Patil and officers from the State Government as members, to examine the ground realities and prepare an
1
A publication by Shri. Pratap K. Mohanty, Department of Marine Sciences, Berhampur University, Berhampur, Orissa
2
A study report submitted to Infrastructure Development Department, Government of Karnataka by Infrastructure Development Corporation Karnataka Limited to assess the
feasibility of conserving lakes in Karnataka
