Panel 'no' to privatisation of lake upkeep

The committee was set up by the Principal Division Bench of the High Court in response to a public interest litigation that had challenged the privatisation of management and rejuvenation of lakes in the City.

It was mandated to formulate a long-term plan to conserve and manage lakes in Bangalore, and was headed by High Court judge Justice N K Patil, and involved top officials of nine agencies connected with lake management. The committee formulated a comprehensive plan for the ‘Preservation of Lakes in Bangalore’ with inputs from the petitioners and the respondents.

This report was submitted to the High Court which accepted it on March 3, 2011, and has been monitoring its implementation every quarter.

The court had observed that the report “satisfies all the prayers sought by the petitioners in the writ petition, except the one pertaining to leaseholders who have made constructions on the periphery of the lake, or are in the process of making such construction,” referring to the already privatised lakes. The committee held five meetings after the court issued an interim order on July 7, 2011, to deliberate the nature of the policy that would be most suitable to the long-term sustenance of the lake systems.

Report submitted

After hearing all the parties involved, it submitted its report before the High Court on October 12, 2011.

The report explicitly states that “commercial exploitation of any lake cannot be allowed under any circumstances.” The committee observed that “the private entrepreneurs to whom the lakes have been handed over for maintenance failed to complete justice to ecology.”

Ultimately, “profit motive” prevailed over “public interest” and “public trust.”

“Hence, it is necessary that the participation of the private sector in the rejuvenation and development of lakes and tanks in the City has to be highly discouraged, if not eliminated.”

The High Court will deliberate the submissions of the committee on Thursday.