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.