Begur Lake, the historic but highly polluted waterbody in Southern Bengaluru, could see better days and turn into a tourist hub in two years. The waterbody had a lot of significance during the Chola era.
The lake, once a source of clean drinking water for the surrounding villages, is now filled with sewage and garbage from the nearby buildings.
On March 17, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy inaugurated a project to revive the lake by removing silt and weeds from it.
The contract for the development work has been awarded to Arun Kumar and Company. The work will be taken up in two phases with Rs 9.5 crore and Rs 5.5 crore being allocated, respectively. "We are already removing contaminated water from the lake," said Jagannath Rao, Executive Engineer (Lakes Division), BBMP.
The lake has two inlets and an outlet. A sewage canal is being built to reroute the sewage water entering the lake from Nice Road, Begur and the surrounding areas. A joggers' path will come up around the lake. A sewage treatment plant of 50 lakh litres will be installed to treat water entering the nearby Chikkabegur lake.
Two small islands will be created in the middle of the lake for birds, with different fruit trees such as mango. For the natural purification of rainwater, a marshy area will be created and plants that can act as purifiers will be grown here. A wire fence will be put up all around the lake.
The BBMP, in association with the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC), plans to introduce boating in the lake to attract people visiting the adjacent Nageshwara Temple, according to Rao.