Hebbal Lake
Located in the northern Bangalore, along the junction of Bellary Road and the ORR (Outer Ring Road), incidentally, it was one of the three lakes founded in 1537 by Kempe Gowda. Hebbal Lake is nearly 150 acre in area. It is a natural lake and is maintained by Sate Forest Department. Hebbal Lake - which receives water from catchment areas which cover localities like Yeshvanthpur, mathikere, RMV, BEL and HMT colonies. This seasonal lake gets filled during the monsoon and invariably will go dry in the summer.

Hebbal Lake alone was home to over 70 species of water birds including 40 from the Himalayan and Central Asian regions. It has a big variety of aquatic vegetation and a large number of birds live around it. You can enjoy bird viewing while boating. The lake is also a source of livelihood and refreshing view for hundreds of people who use them for fishing, agriculture, washing clothes (dhobis) etc.

Before 1984, the lake had a distinct seasonal cycle. it would get filled during the monsoon and invaraiably go dry in the summer. The sewage inflow from neighbouring localities had badly disturbed the ecological system and water hyacinth started choking the lake and its inhabitants. Due to increasing in water pollution, the variety has reduced but the numbers are fair enough to make a visit. It has been reduced to an inlet for sewage, storm water drains, and cattle bathing purposes. Experts say all the city lakes are man made impoundments across streams and they are all interlinked. Cleaning up Hebbal Lake and not the other lakes which it flows into means that when hebbal overflows, the water drains into nagarvara which has no sewage treatment. heavy silting and nitrification are common problems. Interestingly, the lakes was restored, meaning that the silt and weeds were removed under the Indo-Norwegian Environment Programme at a cost of Rs. 2.7 crore.

The LDA was constituted in 2002 as a non-profit society to work in coordination with city utilities and departments for the upkeep of lakes “through community participation” in Bangalore. The Lake Development Authority (LDA), with its jurisdiction covering all the city’s lakes, introduced a scheme in 2004 — Expression of Interest — wherein private parties could bid for water bodies and “develop and maintain” them for the next 15 years. Many of Bangalore’s lakes, which have been public spaces by law and tradition, may soon become properties accessible only to a privileged few, as the Lake Development Authority (LDA) continues to lease them to private entities for “restoration and maintenance”. Lakes at Hebbal, Nagawara and Vengaiahnakere have already been leased for 15 years to East India Hotels Ltd. and Lumbini Developers and ParC Ltd. respectively in public-private partnerships.

The LDA leased out Hebbal Lake, one of the largest lakes in Bangalore, to East India Hotels for a period of 15 years and with an annual lease amount of Rs. 72, 10, 000 and an annual escalation of 1.5% in the amount, under the Public-Private-Partnership policy. There is to be an investment of Rs 16.75 crore under the expression of interest policy of the Lake development authority. The development of the 150 crore Hebbal lake in north Bangalore is being undertaken by East India Hotels of the Oberoi chain of hotels, for 15 years and will include a children park, medical care centre, arch bridges, boating jetty and a handicraft and curio gift centre. The private management includes setting up commercial enterprises in the lake and charging an entry fee. "Desilting of Hebbal Lake took place two years ago (2003) with an investment of Rs 2.7 crore. Yet three-fourths of the lake is covered with weeds, grass, and water hyacinth." said (Bangalore) Lake Development Authority (LDA) CEO B K Singh. According to the LDA CEO, this development will not only increase the recreation options for the people but also encourage eco-tourism, support Lake bio-diversity, recharge ground water and help us maintain eco-balance, Singh added. The development is expected to take a year. The entry fee for visitors will be Rs 20 and be increased to Rs 40 in the last 3 years of the contract. This massive project to develop these lakes may bring back the aquatic sanctity to urban Bangalore.

The primary legal violation relates to land use. Memorandums of agreement signed between the LDA and the private companies that have taken up the development of Hebbal and Nagawara lakes allow for the conversion of the lakes and its surroundings into recreational spots that include food courts and restaurants. A senior official of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) told The Hindu that its permission had not been sought by the LDA for change in land use. New zonal regulations in the Master Plan 2015 allow for some recreational activities on lakes, but not restaurants and gift stores. A 2006 Supreme Court judgement (No. 1251/2006, Intellectuals Forum vs. the State of Andhra Pradesh) states “the tank is a communal property and the State authorities are trustees to hold and manage such properties for the benefit of the community and they cannot be allowed to commit any act or omission which will infringe the right of the community and alienate the property to any other person or body”.

‘The PPPs in respect of Bangalore’s lakes represent a clear contempt of court,’ said Leo Saldanha of the Environment Support Group. According to Rohan D’Souza of the environmental group Hasiru Usiru, the LDA, by charging an entry fee and fencing the lake, is cutting out large groups of people who have traditionally depended on the lake for their livelihood. Chief Executive Officer of the LDA M. Munireddy told The Hindu that the Fisheries Department had been asked not to renew the contracts with fishermen at Hebbal Lake. This is a violation of the PPP agreement itself, which clearly states that it will “respect traditional rights” of the users, according to Mr. D’Souza.

Ecologically, the privatisation of lakes also poses dire consequences for the bio-diversity of these lakes. Building structures around the lake will alienate the migratory nesting birds and destruction of wetlands through these will ensure the dying out of the various flora and fauna. Excess activity on the shores of the lakes, due to all the planned recreational facilities, is bound to scare away the birds from the shoreline. When lakes are emptied for rejuvenation or for, as in this context, the building of a restaurant in the centre and then refilled again, it reportedly takes approximately 20yrs for its bio-diversity to re-emerge.