With no takers for tenders, Madiwala Lake rejuvenation comes to a standstill

With no takers for the tenders called for the preparation of a detailed project report to maintain the Madiwala Lake, the rejuvenation plan at the lake has come to a standstill.

Officials from the BBMP noted that despite it being several months since the lake was handed over to them by the Karnataka Forest Department, they haven’t received the amount the department collected via boating activities in the lake. One of the senior officials pegs this amount to be above Rs 2 crore. “It is a 15-crore development proposal for the rejuvenation of the Madiwala Lake. Tenders were called long before the model code of conduct was announced but there weren’t any takers for it,” a senior official from the BBMP lakes department said. 

He assured that a team would visit the lake on Monday to assess the situation before the rains. BBMP plans to float fresh tenders after the elections to ensure maintenance works ensue.

Water quality concerns

A post on X (formerly Twitter) by @Bnglrweatherman brought Madiwala Lake back into local discussion among Bengaluru-based X users. On Thursday, the account posted: “Madiwala Lake is drying up. Isn’t it the best time to desilt the lake & increase the water quality of this polluted lake which has been declining day by day (sic)”. 

Attached with the post was a video showing the barren portions of the lake and a record of the water quality of the Madiwala lake from July 2023 to March 2024, according to data made publicly available by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). 

It showed that the total coliform, which is the bacteria that is present in the faeces of animals and humans, fell from 92,000 MPN/100 ml in January to about 7,900 MPN/100 ml last month. Sudden changes had also been observed in the nitrate-N rates.

Lake conservationist Raghavendra B Pachhapur explained why the numbers were concerning.  “The total coliform bacteria count is falling and rising all of a sudden within a few months’ time. This cannot happen until there is some freshwater entering the lake due to rains or other such sources. But since that is not happening, there is some error in sampling,” he said. 

Lake conservationists such as Pachhapur have been pushing for the KSPCB to conduct an investigation into these sudden changes in water quality of the lake before the rejuvenation process can continue.