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The Times of India, Bangalore (Page 3)

30th Dec 2011

By Sunitha Rao R

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The battle to save Puttenahalli lake has entered a decisive stage. Successful culmination of the lake revival efforts now hinge on every online vote the campaign can bag in the Spark a Rise social entrepreneurship project. 

After arresting the decay of the water body that had once spread over 13 acres and reviving it, the Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT) entered the online contest. The monetary returns for bagging the top honours in the Mahindra project could prove crucial in ensuring that the lake revival is complete. The online poll indicators are promising. The Puttenahalli lake endeavour is on top of the online poll till now. With 36 projects in the race, the Puttenahalli project had bagged 2,100 of the 11,000 votes. With the poll set to end on Friday, every vote is likely to be crucial on the last day of voting. 

Puttenahalli lake was spread over the three wards of Puttenahalli, Arakere and Konanakunte. It had become a marshy garbage dump, when people residing around the water body decided to take things into their hands, and managed to get the powers-that-be to act to revive the dying lake. As a first step, sewage flowing into the lake was stopped and slowly, other efforts were initiated to bring it back to life. 

The PNLIT earlier this year entered into a three-year MoU with the BBMP to maintain the lake. But lake maintenance requires Rs 30,000 a month. With no financial support from the BBMP, the PNLIT sees an opportunity in the Spark a Rise contest. While the winner of the online poll will walk away with a cash packet of Rs 44 lakh, the next four projects will get Rs 4 lakh each. The trust believes the money can go a long way in salvaging the water body for some time to come. 

NOW A TOURIST SPOT 

Puttenahalli lake is situated in JP Nagar, surrounded by swanky apartment complexes. Thanks to the efforts of locals, the lake has now become a tourist spot. Schoolchildren are brought here regularly to stoke their interest in bird-watching and gardening.