From his neglected state in 2008, the lake flourished after the restoration and began to attract numerous migration and original birds. | Photo Credit: File Photos
After 15 years of maintenance of Lake Puttenehalli, also known as Puttakere, in South Bengaluru, Puttenahali Neighbor Lake Impromement Trust (PNLIT) withdrew from the Lake after the announcement of Bruhat Bengalur Mahanagar Palike (BBMP).
Pnlit played a key role in rejuvenating the 13-Acre and 25-Gunta lakes in 2010. In 2011, confidence signed my BBMP to maintain a lake with the support of local residents.
From his neglected state in 2008, the lake flourished after the restoration and began to attract numerous migration and original birds. According to EBIRD, 125 bird species, including the oriental and white breast Waterhen, were recorded on the lake. Especially there were 17 species, such as duck and kite. The lake is also home to 88 different types of trees, a total of over 500 trees.
According to BBMP records, the civic body took over the maintenance of the lake from the forest department in 2008, which paved the way for its rejuvenation.
Usha Rajagopalan, a co -founder of Pnlit, said Hindu that BBMP lacks a plan after rejuvenation, which caused its and locals to establish pnly. “From 2011 to 2014, we signed an understanding with BBMP for the maintenance of the lake and then appeared twice in 2014 and 2017, lasted until 2020,” said Mrs. Rajagopalan.
In 2020, however, the BBMP did not renew memorandums after the Karnataka High Court ruled that the government could not conclude with business entities in such agreements (related to lakes). However, the order does not prohibit the government to receive corporate resources to rejuvenate the lake.
Mrs. Rajagopalan mentioned that she submitted a linked request in response to the court, and the hearing is still ongoing.
Before this development, he hired pnitts of workers and kept the lake for more than ten years. Mrs. Rajagopalan stressed that PNLIT is a registered charity confidence with an 80G tax for donors and is fully audited and compatible with tax. “Since we submitted a preliminary application, we continued to care for the lake and performed timely pruning and other maintenance activities,” she told the Hindu.
In the announcement of 10 June, however, the civic body ordered the pnitt to remove all the trees and stop the unauthorized work, in this case pruning and other maintenance. According to Mrs. Rajagopalan, the community was concerned about this announcement and decided to withdraw. “We can’t fight anymore; we’ve been fighting for more than ten years,” Mrs. Rajagopalan said.
The BBMP official from the Lake division described the collection of funds for the maintenance of the lake as “illegal”, which led to the issue of the announcement. “The High Court has banned us from that, and if this group collects money for the maintenance of the lake, is it not illegal?” the clerk asked.
Published – 13 July 2025 06:55
