‘B’luru’s population surge puts pressure on its wetlands: DC

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

The Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District J Manjunath (IAS) spoke at the water conclave. He said hat the city’s ever-increasing population and growth rate have been putting tremendous pressure on wetlands and other ecosystems. 

“The city’s population jumped from about 84 lakhs in 2011 to a projected 1.35 crore in 2021. The outer areas have a high rate of growth,” he said.

Describing the various measures being taken by the state government and the district administration and said that a total of 230 lakes have been surveyed in Bengaluru. 

“Over 200 locations get flooded in the city every time there is heavy rain as they have been built on floodplains and lake beds,” he said.

“Along with private encroachments, public encroachments have taken place during the decades of the city’s development,” the Deputy Commissioner said and observed that several public properties like hospitals and highways now stand on spots that were once lakes. He added that these structures could not be cleared now.

The IAS officer said that eviction drives to clear encroachments on lakes are being conducted every Saturday and also that four tehsildars were delegated the responsibility of getting encroachments removed.

On a positive note, the officer shared the success story of Kolar district. “Kolar was a drought-hit district. In the last 15 years, it has seen tremendous improvement. It has seen success in agriculture as its water table has improved.