District Minister R Ramalinga Reddy said there is a need for a
separate Bangalore Lake Development Authority (BLDA) to look after the
city’s lakes. The Minister was speaking after laying the foundation for
rejuvenation works of Byrasandra Lake in Jayanagar on Wednesday.

BDA
is rejuvenating Byrasandra lake for Rs 3.65 crore. Reddy said though
there is a Lake Development Authority (LDA) in the state, the city needs
an exclusive authority to take care of its lakes. “Lakes are developed
by various agencies including the BDA, BBMP and Forest Department, but
they are not maintained. Therefore, there is a need for a separate
agency to monitor the overall development and maintenance of the city’s
lakes,” he added.

“I shall speak to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to release more grants for developing the city’s lakes,” Ramalinga Reddy said.

Reddy said Byrasandra lake was one of the oldest lakes in Bangalore.

“We
had fenced the lake area. Some private agency had encroached the land
and issued khatas. Not just this, they even took loans from a bank by
mortgaging the lake’s land. Later, the resident welfare associations in
Jayanagar filed

a Public-Interest Litigation (PIL) at the High Court,

and after five years, it was declared as government land.”

“The
lake which was earlier under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department
and BBMP has now been handed over to the BDA for maintenance. The lake
will be rejuvenated in the next few months,” the minister said.