Namma Bengaluru needs a water revolution. Here’s why…

Bengaluru: “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water,” said
Loren Eiseley, noted American anthropologist.

And in the context of the rapid expansion of Namma Bengaluru, the need for such magic is imperative.

To deliberate on this predicament, a group of concerned residents of Yelahanka came together a few days ago to ascertain where life was heading, given the recent ‘developments’ in the area.

The group met at an upscale bookstore on the city’s outskirts to exchange notes on various issues that plague Namma Bengaluru and the everyday challenges that obstruct access to a quality of life the city was once famous for.

The event, hosted at Dragonfly Reads in Jinvara, Yelahanka, saw discussions over a wide range of topics such as the traffic bane, rapid expansion in infrastructure, looming water shortage owing to climate change and recent changes in the North Bengaluru landscape.

Aiming at a quality of life, they decided to begin with a celebration of the elixir of life – H2O – to be chemically precise. 

Simar, a mixed media professional, water activist and founder of Lifetide, spoke of the need to connect and build mutually beneficial relationships with water stewards, architects, builders, students and educators to build a more just and sustainable city.

She emphasized the importance of a creative habitat for learners and practitioners of various arts to converge and ideate on actionable ways that support the youth in the protection, preservation and conservation of natural ecosystems.

The mixed media method

This celebration is proposed to embrace various modes of awareness dissemination such as sound, film, installation, citizen science, art, community theatre, and storytelling among others.

From ‘lackluster’ to ‘lakes with luster’

The first step is to work with society at large and the authorities in particular towards restoring the lost luster of Bengaluru’s lakes, the need of the hour in a rapidly expanding city, which is fed by only one river.

As a first step, the residents are in the process of chalking out plans to co-opt the youth across premier educational forces in the city such as Azim Premji University, Christ University, Public Policy experts at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and public space design departments to help bridge gaps between public and policy through the arts and citizen science.

Kempegowda’s legacy under threat

For the unversed, Bengaluru was envisioned and manifested by a genius named Kempegowda who ruled the Yelahanka region around 600 years ago under the overarching supervision of the Vijayanagara empire.

His Bengaluru then comprised a network of over 1,000 lakes, which has come down to just a few hundred as of today.  

During the roundtable, concerns were raised over the high possibility of water scarcity in the region, in the near future, with the city being serviced by just one river, and the simultaneous cannibalization of lake areas across the city.

Another pressing concern was that while core areas of the city were being given piped water supply from the Cauvery, many structures in the peripheral areas of the city were currently dependent only on groundwater to meet their needs.

This, they felt, would put the whole peripheral civilization in jeopardy as time goes by, with greater extraction of groundwater highly likely with the advent of intense commercial activity. 

Another point of discussion was the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR), the real estate projects currently underway in the region and their likely impact on the environment in the years to come.

Participants shared updates on the status of these projects, recognizing the need to stay informed to understand how these changes might affect them, going forward.

Rather than seeing these developments as challenges, the conversation centered on what kind of efforts were required to protect the region’s outdoors — such as engaging with policymakers, local communities, and the authorities, with the main aim of hoping for a culture of responsible development that safeguards natural spaces, yet allows for economic growth.

The Bangalore Mountain Biking Group, represented by Outdoor Adventure Instructor, Manik Taneja, was particularly active in the dialogue, emphasizing the importance of preserving access to outdoor spaces and trails.

The gathering was deeply focused on the environmental impact of high-intensity projects, framing this moment as an opportunity to concentrate energies toward preserving the region’s natural heritage for posterity.

A few residents also expressed apprehension over the fast disappearing green cover in the region, spurred by the huge demand for real estate, and the more-than-commensurate zeal of housing providers to service such requirements, prompting a unanimous declaration of urgency in the need to engage on environmental protection and preservation for a sustainable future.