Fourteen of Bengaluru’s historically significant lakes have been restored to functional ecological status over the past three years under a partnership between the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA), and a consortium of resident welfare associations and environmental NGOs.

The programme, which began in 2023 with a pilot on three lakes in the eastern corridors, has now been expanded citywide with a budget of ₹280 crore for the current phase.

What Restoration Involves

Lake restoration in Bengaluru’s context is a multi-step process:

  1. Desilting — Removing decades of accumulated silt, often contaminated with heavy metals and construction debris
  2. Sewage diversion — Intercepting storm-water drains that have been illegally connected to sewage networks and redirecting sewage to treatment plants
  3. Bund strengthening — Repairing and raising the earthen bunds that retain water
  4. Native planting — Establishing native aquatic vegetation such as lotus, water hyacinth management, and shoreline trees
  5. Encroachment removal — Reclaiming land within the Full Tank Level (FTL) that had been occupied by structures, compounds, or roads

Results

The 14 restored lakes now hold a combined 420 million litres at capacity — water that previously drained away or was lost to evaporation from shallow, silted basins.

Citizen monitoring groups report significant wildlife returns: painted storks, purple moorhens, spot-billed pelicans, and river terns have been recorded at lakes where they had not been seen in a decade.

Groundwater tables in surrounding neighbourhoods have measurably improved. One study in the Bellandur watershed area recorded a 3.2 metre rise in borewell water levels within 18 months of lake restoration.

The Remaining Challenge

Bengaluru once had over 1,000 lakes. Approximately 193 remain in some recognisable form. Of these, an estimated 90 are severely degraded. The 14 restored lakes represent a beginning, not a solution.

“The rate of degradation has historically outpaced the rate of restoration,” said an ATREE researcher who has monitored Bengaluru’s lake system for 15 years. “What this programme demonstrates is that restoration is possible. Whether it scales up fast enough is a political question, not a technical one.”

The BBMP has committed to adding 10 more lakes to the restoration programme in the 2026–27 financial year.