Bengaluru’s now-destroyed lakes are the best solution to the city’s water crisis

Bengaluru, once known as the city of lakes, now faces a recurring and intensifying water shortage and flooding crisis. The historical network of lakes and channels that sustained the city has shrunk alarmingly.

Once, lakes were not merely aesthetic or recreational spaces. Aside from being hubs of socio-cultural activities, they were essential reservoirs for rainwater, replenishing aquifers, preventing floods, and supporting livelihoods like farming and fishing.

As groundwater levels plummet and lakes continue to shrink, the city’s ecological and hydrological balance are at risk due to decades of mismanagement, encroachments, and poor governance.

Lakes and rajakaluve

In Kempegowda’s Bengaluru (16th century), lakes were a well-planned, inter-linked system of irrigation tanks that conformed to the natural valleys of the city – Hebbal, Koramangala-Challaghatta, Vrishabhavathi, and Arkavathi. The cascading system connected by channels (or streams) and stormwater drains called rajakaluve supported fishing, livelihoods, and domestic use in an otherwise dry region.

Lake maintenance was handled by local communities, with dedicated groups responsible for canal upkeep, desilting, and fishing. The communities and their informal governance were eventually cut off when the British government took control of the lakes in the 1700s. Culturally unimportant to them, the lakes made way for development to house an increasing population.

Piped water from the Arkavathy river was introduced in the 1890s...

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