HSR residents walk to save Somasundara Palya Lake

by October 7, 2012 Environment

Residents, pained by the state of Haralukunte Lake, organised a walk to demand the lake be saved. Months of inaction by BDA and state government has seen large sections of the lake encroached.

On 7th October, the HSRx Federation organised a walkathon to the Somasundara Palya lake. More than 300 residents were there to demand that the lake be saved from encroachment and restored to its natural state. The walkathon started from Somasundara Palya circle (via DHL, Smart Retail store, EB power grid, turned left near Parangipalya Road and ended at the lake.

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ABiDE member Dr Ashwin Mahesh said with more problems to be fixed in our neighbourhoods, they can be solved only by increasing the number of problem solvers. Tahsildar Harishilpa, who is responsible for clearing lake encroachments also joined the walkathon and said she was happy to see such enthusiasm especially from newer Bangaloreans. She promised support with surveying the lake boundaries.

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MLA Satish Reddy also spoke briefly. He promised all help to resolve the lake issues. He said BDA should complete the work by October 20th and also said he will use his MLA funds to support this. He had agreed to look into the lake problems in an earlier meeting in March this year.

The HSRx federation has been campaigning the last few month, to save the lake. BDA had earlier instructed HSR Police to seize debris dumping lorries to prevent more encroachment. They had also promised to deploy security guards to monitor lake. BDA had also asked Tahsildar to remove encroachments, but this has not yet been done. Residents say debris continues to be dumped into the lakebed at night and illegal structures are getting built on the lakebed.

The HSR-X Federation, formed by a group of apartments in Somasundara Palya has in the past taken up activities like
1. Lobbying to solve the issue of a portion of land on 27th Main Road part of army area.
2. Clearing illegal humps in Haralur Road (towards Sarjapur)
3. Restricting heavy transport vehicles in the area
4. Clearing garbage dump spots.
5. Fixing non-working streetlights and adding new street lights.
6. Voter id drive

The federation is now working on
1. Reviving their lake to ensure self-sustenance of water in the area
2. Khata processing
3. Kaveri water connection
4. Tarring 27th main road
5. Road repairs/tarring in Somasundara Palya roads
6. Addressing garbage issues of the area
7. Making the area more safe and secure

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