INTACH to submit action plan on conservation of Kukkarahalli lake
Stakeholders come out with slew of suggestions on conserving the lake’s biodiversity
Kukkarahalli lake, a biodiversity hotspot in the heart of Mysuru, will witness a major conservation initiative after the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) submits an action plan with recommendations by the stakeholders for the revival of the waterbody.
INTACH has been roped in by local authorities to study the present status of the lake and submit a detailed project report on its conservation.
A stakeholders meeting was held in this connection at the Mysore School of Architecture on Saturday and environmentalists came out with a slew of suggestions that could be incorporated in the DPR.
‘Forest Department should manage lake’
Bhamy Shenoy, founding president of Mysore Grahakara Parishat, said that some of the recommendations suggested include removing the encroachment along the Purnaiah canal. In addition, the University of Mysore, which is the custodian of the lake, will be asked to divert the sewage which is being let into the waterbody. Dr. Shenoy said about 20% of the feeder canal was encroached upon and clearing it could augment the inflow to the lake. He also said that the management of the lake should be handed over to the Forest Department from the University of Mysore.
There were exhaustive presentations on various aspects pertaining to the present status of the lake and U.N. Ravikumar, an environmentalist, stressed on the Purnaiah canal, which is the feeder canal and source of freshwater to the lake, needing to be reclaimed. He said there was scope for reclaiming at least 5.3 km of the nearly 26 km canal, to feed the surface run off to Kukkarahalli lake. He also suggested that the remnants of the canal could string the other waterbodies enroute to become an ecological corridor providing habitat and ground water recharging.
Hydrological aspects during rains
Yadupatty Putty, an engineer who had studied waterbodies in western ghats, elaborated on the hydrological aspects during a normal rainfall year, dry year and a wet year and demonstrated that the present catchment was inadequate to fill the lake and it was imperative to tap other catchments through the Purnaiah canal for making up the deficit.
N.S. Rangaraju touched upon the historical aspects of the lake while environmentalist Saptha Girish said that scientific data pertaining to the biodiversity of the lake was being generated for the last 40 years and it should be harnessed to identify threats and conserve the flora and fauna of the ecosystem.
H.S. Champa, Dean, MSA, presented a study conducted by the faculty and students on the hydrology of Mysuru district and explained how the stormwater network could be naturalized as an ecological and public space for citizens.
Issues plaguing the lake
Kukkarahalli lake has been affected by issues like encroachment, inadequate fresh water inflow, sewage release, growth of hyacinth and fish kills, bald patches with low tree cover, etc.
Manu Bhatnagar of INTACH said they have already submitted a database report based on primary investigations such as topographic and bathymetric surveys, hydrology, deep soil investigations, etc.
- Telegram
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Karnataka
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water
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