In 2011, a couple of months earlier than he submitted a report on the unlawful mining of iron ore by a cartel with deep connections within the BJP authorities in Karnataka, forest officer Dr U V Singh was attacked by a Bengaluru councillor’s henchmen whereas investigating a tip-off that industrial effluents have been being dumped within the Nagawara lake within the metropolis.
The incident highlighted the efforts of the Indian Forest Service officer, who was then head of the Lake Improvement Authority, in defending the lakes of the state capital, and the hurdles conscientious civil servants have been up in opposition to in a system with little concern for the atmosphere.
Greatest recognized for his publicity of the unlawful mining of iron ore in Ballari between 2004 and 2011 and the resultant atmosphere degradation, Dr Singh, now retired, has additionally been a central determine in efforts to guard Bengaluru lakes.
Aside from initiatives undertaken underneath the now-disbanded Lake Improvement Authority over a decade in the past, Dr Singh has been a part of panels reporting on the well being of waterbodies within the “metropolis of lakes”, together with the age-old Bellandur lake–which was within the information final month after heavy rain led to flooding in posh areas round it for a number of days.
In a paper revealed a few years in the past on the lakes of Bengaluru, Dr Singh lamented that the most important points across the safety of lakes had “remained the identical” as identified by the Lakshman Rau Committee in 1988 and, extra just lately, the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom. The issues persist, based on the paper on Bengaluru’s “altering wetland ecosystem”, regardless of being raised “again and again by means of committee studies and courtroom orders”.
On the root of the flooding in Bengaluru, Dr Singh says, is the truth that lakes and marshy areas within the metropolis’s low-lying south-eastern elements—the place rainwater reaches from the upper central and japanese elements—have now turn into areas of human habitation.
“Earlier there was no habitation and the water would accumulate in these marshy and lake areas and slowly run off to the Pinakini river additional south. Now most of those marshy areas have turn into built-up areas, and water will stay in these built-up areas since they’re three-four ft decrease than surrounding areas. There is no such thing as a percolation of water both,” he stated.
“There are additionally hardly any storm-water drains of enormous width obtainable for water movement–some have been encroached on or diverted. It’s fairly a large number. These 4 or 5 components that haven’t been addressed over time are on the root of the flooding seen in September in Bengaluru,” stated the previous chief conservator of forests.
In response to Dr Singh, the idea behind the Lake Improvement Authority was noble however the physique had few authorized powers. “The LDA had lofty aims like safety, conservation, reclamation, restoration, rejuvenation and built-in improvement of lakes, however not sufficient infrastructure and statutory powers. The LDA additionally had jurisdiction over lakes in different cities. It had 11 lakes in Bengaluru metropolis underneath it,” stated the previous head of the LDA, which was abolished in 2018.
The lakes in Bengaluru at the moment are underneath the management of the company, the Bengaluru Improvement Authority and the forest division. “It’s noticed that the BBMP has rejuvenated about 74 lakes in its jurisdiction. However as per a report of the Indian Institute of Science, solely six-eight lakes are being maintained,” Dr Singh stated. “Remainder of them are once more going again to their authentic state of affairs.”
Dr Singh’s paper singled out encroachments as a major motive for the destruction of the lake ecosystem in Bengaluru. “As a result of common influx of sewage water into a lot of the lakes within the Bengaluru company space and in addition in some lakes of surrounding areas, the water high quality of lakes are discovered to be non-consumable and lots of of them are extremely polluted,” the paper said.
“This has been a priority for a very long time. Greater than 30 or 40 lakes have been allotted (for development functions). The disappearance of those lakes has resulted in water flowing on to the roads within the metropolis, notably within the japanese elements,” Dr Singh stated.
Reflecting on the current flooding within the info know-how hall in southeast Bengaluru, the previous forest official known as for regulating the water movement from lakes like Bellandur and Varthur through the monsoon. “There may be flooding yearly. However as a result of extra rain was acquired within the span of 1 week, the state of affairs was worse this yr. This occurs solely as soon as in 20 years. The Bellandur lake was underneath rejuvenation and the work was not accomplished,” Dr Singh stated.
“The water that flows into Bellandur doesn’t get impounded and water tends to overflow. The 2 main lakes within the area—Bellandur and Varthur—should get emptied earlier than the monsoon and that ought to be the technique as a result of the lakes should refill with out extreme overflow within the monsoon. The surplus water that’s standing in areas across the lakes ought to be impounded in these two lakes. There ought to be de-silting and correct upkeep of lakes earlier than the monsoon,” he defined.
Dr Singh, now 64, has a doctorate in zoology with a thesis on insect hormones. He has written a e-book on birds in Karnataka and sits on a monitoring committee appointed by the Supreme Courtroom to look into points round unlawful mining in Goa, Karnataka, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
“When there are illegalities, there might be a state of affairs the place circumstances will construct up in opposition to the illegalities. Nature additionally performs a job as a result of as soon as nature turns into illiberal, it’s going to discover a approach–or some means for an answer,” Dr Singh stated.