The lakes of Bangalore, India

Written By Heather Williams

Vibha Rohilla is a Junior at Harvey Mudd College. She is a Joint Major in Computer Science and Engineering.

The southern Indian city of Bangalore, a bustling metropolis of 10 million people, is one of the world’s leading exporters of information technology. Still, the city wrestles with basic urban challenges. The city’s water supply and flood control systems are fragile, many portions of the city lack open space, and a third of the city’s residents are below the poverty line.

This proposed public trust would remediate and protect the ancient, interconnected tank system that gives Bangalore the nickname City of Lakes. The rehabilitation of this centuries-old rainfed reservoir system would enhance water supply, control monsoon floods, provide natural open space for residents, and new lines of subsistence for low-income residents.

There is a need for bold thinking on water in Bangalore. The city lies in the southern state of Karnataka in the middle of the arid Eastern and Western Ghats, two mountain ranges that rise, respectively, to 1,690 and 2,690 meters above sea level. The valleys of Bangalore receive monsoon rains, but they are not crossed by major rivers. Today, a small portion of the city’s residents have access to piped water; the greatest number of city residents rely on water delivered by truck from private water dealers, who in turn harvest groundwater from boreholes at the outskirts of the city.

City leaders have attempted with mixed success to encourage citizens to harvest water from their roofs. Ironically, one of the most promising components of Bangalore’s rainwater portfolio may be in plain sight: its historic lake system. Various forms of water harvesting and storage have been practiced in India for millennia, and through time and the rise of dynastic powers throughout South Asia the scale and sophistication of water conveyance and storage systems increased. Tank construction developed southeast Karnataka around 1300-1750 AD. Larger lake systems were developed through the innovation of string-line sluice construction, which allowed tank-makers to use gravity for irrigation in paddy cultivation.[1] The most ambitious projects were built under the ruling Kempe-Gouda in the mid-16th century.[2] At the system’s apex in Bangalore, a cascading system of 837 lakes dotted the landscape flowing north to south across the city and its outlying areas.[3] The lakes, traditionally known as keres, were a multi-use system that interacted with open wells in order to provide water to community residents for household use and irrigation of fields.[4] This tank system is not unique to Bangalore, but is common throughout south India.[5] Furthermore, similar surface water harvesting systems exist in other parts of the nation such as in Rajasthan since 1500 B.C.[6]

The decline of the lake system began well over a century ago under British colonial rule. Numerous academics have argued that the British administrators caused tank degradation in south India by being both too interventionist and not interventionist enough. On the one hand, they alienated the locals from their tank system by impoverishing and imposing new structures upon them. At the same time, they tried to force locals to manage and maintain their local tanks, but without any resources.[7] The hydrology of interconnected tank systems was broken down into different domains according to the sitting ruler and British land-owner. This zamindari (land-owner) period transformed the lakes from a resource managed for collective benefit to a resource that reinforced British control, thus “the link between irrigation investment and its political rewards” was severed.[8]  

To address the city’s increasing demand as its population expanded, British colonial administrators sidelined the tank system and embarked on water supply projects that would convey water from sources distant from the city, such as the Arkhavaty River and the Cauvery River, where colonial engineers oversaw the building of Hesaraghatta Lake and the TG Halli Reservoir.[9] The system built by the British primary surface water sources for the city.

The current status of the lakes is abysmal. A survey conducted in 2013 revealed that 105 lakes remain today, of which 90% are encroached on and polluted.[10] Sadly, after India gained independence in 1947, no tank rehabilitation system was put into place for Karnataka.[11] As the city became more densely urbanized and transportation shifted to gasoline-powered vehicles, many of the already-neglected canals connecting the lakes were ruptured entirely and tank beds in core areas of the city became building sites. Many historic lake sites are now bus stations, stadiums, institutes, and residential areas.[12] A majority of the tanks that remain are severely polluted and contain heavy metals, coliform bacteria, untreated sewage, garbage, chemicals from surrounding companies, algal blooms, and other pathogens and pollutants.[13] Bellandur lake, one of the largest at 900 acres, spews toxic white foam and caught on fire in January 2018.[14]

For the last seventy-three years, the tanks have continuously degraded due to poor bureaucracy and corruption on the part of the government. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) were undertaken with surrounding corporations to rejuvenate the lakes in the 1990s and early 2000s, but these activities, paradoxically, further degraded the lakes.[15]

Under the definition of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and numerous other environmental acts, the tanks should be considered wetlands and protected. In particular, Environment Support Group has worked to establish laws that protect the lakes as commons in 2013.[16] What we see instead is fragmented government control and extremely poor implementation of these acts. The lakes are currently under the management of the Minor Irrigation Department, as are the rest of Karnataka’s tanks.[17]

Today, however, innovative proposals for lake system rehabilitation are growing in number. In a recent report, “Wetlands: Treasure of Bangalore”, T.V. Ramachandra, a researcher with the Energy and Wetlands Institute at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, urged government intervention. Along with recharging the groundwater, Ramachandra emphasizes the roles the lakes play in maintaining biogeological cycles, mitigating floods, acting as carbon sinks, supplying wetland resources (fish, medicinal plants, etc.), controlling the microclimate, providing habitat for organisms, establishing areas of recreation, and educating the public. To Ramachandra’s list, I would like to add what the lakes were initially intended for: rainwater harvesting systems to supply water and provide a source of food to the city, even though these uses do not fall under the wetland definition of the tank system.[18] Although the goal of providing food and water may seem unreachable based on the system’s current status, it is critical.

A system of rehabilitated, living lakes in the city of Bangalore is an ambitious goal, but if organized soundly and democratically, the benefits to present and future generations of a clean, working tank system would far outweigh the costs. A precedent law case citing public trust doctrine is Civic v. State of Karnataka in 1995, wherein the State of Karnataka wanted to use forty-eight acres of wetland to construct the National Games Village residential apartment complexes. The court ruled for the plaintiffs and issued an injunction on construction.[19]

Clearly, before the commencement of any remedial projects, there must be will on the part of government, the private sector, and civil society to cease the contamination of lakes. This must entail a moratorium on new construction adjacent to or on top of existing lakes. Polluters must face a credible enforcement of codes, including fines for dumping chemicals and garbage into rivers and lakes. The large technology corporations that benefit from the city must also contribute to the city’s well-being. The sewerage and water treatment facilities necessary to deal with effluent and urban runoff require revenue through taxes rather than voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

A rehabilitated tank system holds the promise of greater inclusivity in the city. A lake system using an integrated wetlands approach, for example, could draw on traditional knowledge of water harvesting and fish farming.[20] In some parts of south India, neerghantis continue to manage the tank in exchange for a portion of the produce of the village.[21] A system of urban neerghantis wherein villagers would help manage lakes in exchange for use of lots for growing fruit or fish would provide food and jobs. Furthermore, lake areas with setbacks could provide market sites for the poor who normally sell their produce around the city of Bangalore. Instead of featuring packaged goods that increase the garbage in the lakes, markets would showcase the native fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants of Karnataka.

Bangalore’s information technology industry provides an opportunity for the development of data gathering and storage systems that would support the elaboration of dynamic, participatory watershed programs for the city. Examples of data-gathering and visualization systems that might be assembled are live online maps with georeferenced data on tanks, and continuous scientific monitoring of the lakes with real time uploads from water quality gauges that indicate levels of pollutants and nutrients, temperature, turbidity and oxygen levels. Networked information systems could also be used to cameras to catch polluters. The High Court of Karnataka has recommended taking footage near lakes to be able to find and fine violators.[22] Additionally, Bangalore’s efforts might well be linked to similar efforts Chennai, Hyderabad, Bombay, and Madurai. The cross-fertilization of ideas via an online network is vital.[23]

Finally, a lake trust in Bangalore is an extraordinary opportunity for drawing the city’s residents together around a multiplicity of civic projects. Volunteer efforts might include door-to-door outreach in Bangalore, or the creation of WhatsApp groups for people to organized lake maintenance events. The lake trust would also be a means of educating the populace about rainwater harvesting. Communities might well create infographics on where their water comes from to compare the environmental and monetary impact of their existing system versus rainwater harvesting. Public murals, documentaries, lake festivals, bird-watching events, school trips could create beautiful spaces and memorable events. Finally, a lab and discovery center with information on the history of the lakes and ways to become involved in lake maintenance would make a habit among Bangalore’s youngest residents of considering the lakes as an integral part of their home.

[1] Shah, E. Social Designs: Tank Irrigation Technology and Agrarian Transformation in Karnataka, South India. (The Netherlands:Wageningen University, 2003). Accessed May 29 at https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/fulltext/139417\.

 [2] Nagendra, H. Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016).

 [3] Ramachandra, T.V. et al, Wetlands: Treasure of Bangalore, ENVIS Technical Report 101 (2016), Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore, accessed May 29, 2020 at http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/ETR101/ETR101_wetlands_treasure-P.pdf.

 [4] Shah, E., Social Designs.

[5] Mosse, D. “The Symbolic Making of a Common Property Resource: History, Ecology and Locality in a Tank-irrigated Landscape in South India,” Development and Change, 28 (1997) no. 3, 467–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00051.

 [6] Mishra, A. (1993). The Ponds are Still Relevant, (Haryana: Paryavaran Mitr Foundation. 1993) accessed May 29, 2020 at  https://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/the_ponds_are_still_relevant_2016.pdf; Pandey, D. N. et al., “Rainwater harvesting as an adaptation to climate change. Current Science, 85 (2003), no.1, 46–59, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24107712#metadata_info_tab_contents.

 [7] Shah, 2003.

[8] Mosse, D., “The Symbolic Making of a Common Property Resource: History, Ecology and Locality in a Tank-irrigated Landscape in South India,” Development and Change, 28 (1997), no. 3, 467–504, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00051.

 [9] Unnikrishnan, H. and Nagendra, H. “The Lost Lakes of Bangalore.” Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia, (Spring 2018), no. 13. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, accessed May 29, 2020 at https://arcadia.ub.uni-muenchen.de/arcadia/article/view/169/155.

 [10] Ramachandra et al., 2016.

[11] Shah, 2003.

[12] Ramachandra et al., 2016.

 [13] (Ramachandra et. al, 2016; Lokeshwari & Chandrappa, 2006) Ramachandra et al., 2016; Lokeshwari, H. & Chandrappa, G. T. “Impact of heavy metal contamination of Bellandur Lake on soil and cultivated vegetation,” Current Science, 91 (2006), no. 5, 622–627, https://www.jstor.org/stable/24094365#metadata_info_tab_contents;

 [14] Abraham, M.R. (2018, February 14) “Why This Lake Keeps Catching on Fire,” National Geographic News, February 14, 2018, accessed May 29, 2020 at  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/02/bangalore-india-lake-bellandur-catches-fire-pollution/

 [15] Ramachandra et al., 2016.

 [16] Nagendra, H., & Ostrom, E., “Applying the social-ecological system framework to the diagnosis of urban lake commons in Bangalore, India,” Ecology and Society 19 (2014), no. 2, 67, https://doi.org/10.5751/es-06582-190267.

 [17] Rao, M. M., “Research and biodiversity likely to disappear when Minor Irrigation Department takes over,” The Hindu, April 1, 2018  https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/research-and-biodiversity-likely-to-disappear-when-minor-irrigation-department-takes-over/article23404384.ece

 [18] Shah, 2003.

[19] Rajamani, L., “Doctrine of Public Trust: A tool to ensure effective state management of natural resources.” Journal of the Indian Law Institute, 38 (1996), no.1, 72–82, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43951624?seq=10#metadata_info_tab_contents.

 [20] Ramachandra, T.V. et al., Integrated Wetlands Ecosystem: Sustainable Model to Mitigate Water Crisis in Bangalore (Sahyadri: Environmental Information System, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Sciences, 2014) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318316524_Integrated_Wetlands_Ecosystem_Sustainable_Model_to_Mitigate_Water_Crisis_in_Bangalore

 [21] Dikshit, G. S. et al. (1993). Tank Irrigation in Karnataka: A Historical Survey (Gandhi Sahitya Sangha, 1993), https://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/Tank_Irrigation_In_Karnataka_A_Historical_Survey_Gandhi_Sahitya_Sangha_1993.pdf

 [22] Mehrotra, M., “High Court raps government over failure to save Bengaluru lakes,” Bangalore Mirror, July 17, 2019, accessed May 29, 2020 at https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/civic/high-court-raps-government-over-failure-to-save-benagluru-lakes/articleshow/70251246.cms

 [23] Scroll.in. (2018), “Eco India: Bengaluru is witnessing a transformation, one lake at a time,” (YouTube Video, 2018), accessed May 29, 2020 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHqpKyt8w8A&t=4s.

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Heather Williams
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