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A
Major Milestone
Understanding
the urgent need to restore and protect lakes, the Government of
Karnataka constituted an Expert Committee vide G.O. No. PWD-82-IMB-85,
dated 26.07.85 headed by Shri N. Lakshman Rau, to study the problems
and suggest remedies for the preservation and restoration of the
existing lakes in the metropolitan area of Bangalore City.
WRIT
PETITION
Public
took interest about the lakes that was getting deteriorated over
a period of time. They filed public interest litigation in the Hon'ble
High Court as writ petitions, on which the High Court ordered to
take immediate steps for implementing the G.O. dated 11-02-1988
and also carry out the recommendation of the expert committee constituted
by the Govt. vide order dated 26-7-1985. The Govt. acting on the
order has initiated restoration of water bodies in the state of
Karnataka.
Summary
of recommendations of the Expert Committee:
Ø
Existing
tanks should not be breached but retained as water bodies;
Ø
Efforts
should be made to ensure that these tanks are not polluted by discharge
of effluent and industrial wastes;
Ø
Further,
to prevent silting up of these tanks, off shore development is to
be taken up by large scale tree planting and also removal of encroachments;
Ø
Those
tanks which have already been breached should not be utilised for
formation of sites but taken up to create tree parks;
Ø
Existing
tanks should be deweeded and aquatic life must be developed;
Ø
The
tank areas where there is no atchkat are to be handed over to the
Forest Department for formation of tree parks/foreshore tree planting
and formation of regional parks.
Ø
The
Bangalore Development Authority / Bangalore City Corporation / Minor
Irrigation Department must remove encroachments on tank areas;
Ø
Implementation
of the recommendations should be reviewed periodically. For this
purpose, the Forest Department, Bangalore Development Authority,
Bangalore City Corporation, Minor Irrigation Department, Bangalore
Water Supply an Sewerage Board and Town Planning Department may
be involved.
Ø
The
responsibility for the maintenance of water bodies in a clean and
safe condition should be with Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage
Board.
Ø
The
possibility of construction of more tanks along the natural valleys
which now have a run-off water should be examined and implementation
taken up.
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