Will the TG reservoir remain safe forever?

By Alladi Jayasri

BANGALORE, JUNE 2. If the long-held case for declaring the Thippegondanahalli (TG) Reservoir and surrounding areas including the Arkavathy and Kumudvathy rivers as protected areas is accepted by the Government, there is every chance that the main source of Bangalore's drinking water needs will remain safe forever from predatory overtures of certain real estate developers.

The TG Halli is currently in the news again with the construction of a medical college campus by the Vijayanagar Educational Trust progressing at a brisk pace on the banks of Kumdvathi river which drains into the lake.

It seems that there is still hope for the TG Halli reservoir, which has recently emerged from the shadow of another controversy that raged through the early Nineties. Arkavathy, the other river that feeds TG Halli, had been threatened with pollution and possibilities of choking with sewage when a housing colony was proposed to be built by Delhi-based DLF Housing. thanks to its proximity to the river.

The Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) Chairman, Mr. Nandan Nilekani, has conceded that it was remiss of the BATF to have failed to take cognisance of the unfolding drama over this issue. He has also promised to use the weight and influence of this corporate-funded task force, which has harnessed seven Government and civic agencies to the task of making Bangalore clean, green and citizen-friendly, to help protect and insulate T.G.Halli against such predation.

Since 1983, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has been trying to persuade the State Government to declare the lake and its environs a protected area and hand it over to the care of the BWSSB. The proposal has been on the backburner, and the DLF controversy has taken a long time to blow over.

The result is that in the present controversy, the BWSSB has been engaged in writing to many agencies such as the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and the Urban Development Department, to clinch matters once and for all.

The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, who asked a team of officials from various departments to make a visit to the spot and make a rapid assessment of the medical college project, has promised to go by the investigating team's recommendations. He has also called for satellite pictures and information from the ISRO's remote sensing facility to identify the sensitive areas .

The BWSSB's stand is that the KSPCB should not issue a no- objection certificate to the medical college, and should initiate measures to bar all development around the reservoir area.

The BATF has given itself a mission to make the seven agencies (stakeholders in BATF) citizen-friendly. The seven stakeholders are the BWSSB, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited, the Bangalore Development Authority, the Bangalore Telephones, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, and the Bangalore City Police.

In the past six months, it has also proved to be the most effective and arguably the most successful initiative that has brought together a multitude of agencies to make common cause for the city. This is evident in the fact that all agencies are racing to keep the promises and commitments made by them. The BWSSB, the KPTCL, the Bangalore City Police and the BMP have all activated their customer relation initiatives, and appear to be working towards greater transparency.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Violence mars polling in Bangalore Rural Dist.
Next     : Consensus eludes ruling front