Facelift for Ulsoor Lake

BBMP to spend Rs 2.62 cr on a major project to inject new life into degenerating lake


The weed-infested, silt-ridden and sewerage-contaminated Ulsoor Lake is in for a makeover.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has finally woken up to the lake’s worsening condition and worked out a Rs 2.62-crore beautification project. The civic body is also in the final stages of taking over the defunct Kensington Town swimming pool on the lake’s bank .
The beautification project will entail building two footbridges for walkers and joggers on either side of the lake, removing weeds, building an embankment wall and fencing the lake. One footbridge will come up near Gurudwara junction and the other near MEG main gate. The BBMP is also in the process of roping in a private firm to set up a garden and light up the park in the evenings.
A senior engineer in BBMP’s lake wing told Bangalore Mirror that tenders have been finalised and work orders will be issued soon. “In fact minor works have already commenced at the behest of the area corporator. In a couple of weeks, major works will start,” the officer revealed.
Ulsoor ward corporator R Uday Kumar, under whose jurisdiction the Ulsoor Lake falls, said, “The lake’s embankment wall has become hold and recently a part of it collapsed.
"This led to silt and sewerage getting into the lake. The beautification project will address this problem.”
Kumar said a major real estate firm had come forward to set up and maintain a park close to the Thiruvallavur statue area and install colourful lights to light up the lake in the evenings.
“A play area for kids will also be housed on the bank. Proper docking facility will be provided for boats,” Kumar added.



Swimming pool to splash again
The Kensington Town swimming pool on bank of Ulsoor Lake once produced several champion swimmers. Many flocked to it during summers. Ever since the pool was shut down in 2008 for renovation, it slid into oblivion with no progress in reviving it. Now, the BBMP is all set to take back the pool from the Department of Youth Services and Sports.
Ulsoor corporator Uday Kumar said, “We have had several rounds of talks with infrastructure development minister Roshan Baig and he has helped BBMP re-possess the pool. A few days ago, Baig told me that the Department of Youth Services and Sports has agreed to transfer the pool to BBMP. The handover process should hopefully be done by the end of summer. Subsequently, it will be reopened for the public.”


Good Lake

* The life of a lake or tank is in its shoreline. The shoreline of the islands needs to be modified and also some chosen portions of the lake * The removal of silt has to be systematically monitored * It needs to have different kinds of macro-plants with different structures to maintain and sustain the life giving processes of the lake * A lake needs to have a ‘ring’ of trees and tall hedge around it, bordering the roads especially where there is movement of traffic


Bad Lake


* Ulsoor Lake is chock-a-block with water hyacinth and needs regular clearing up * It is silted to about 50 per cent of its actual depth and reports say that the quantity of silt on the lake bed is about five lakh metric tonnes * Unchecked effluent and sewage discharge have rendered the lake into a murky green, foul smelling, polluted, contaminated water body