Now, they strangled Lendi Talao too
| Date :22-Jun-2022 |
Staff Reporter
Like Dobe lake, Lendi Talao, too, is getting strangulated by the city fathers and of course by the public too. If one recalls the image of Lendi Talao in 2019 and compare it with that of today’s status, one would come to know, the lake is being killed systematically.
This lake is the most unfortunate among all the lakes. Reason is neither authority nor public ever tried to save this lake. The overflow of this lake once fed traditionally the other two lakes--Naik Talao and Dobe Talao. Unfortunately, people of residing in the area near these lakes, too, have not realised its importance which is evident from the fact that people kept encroaching the lake that never had a fixed boundary.
The water body covers an area of about 2.6 hectares. The informal settlements on all sides and no visual access to the approach road is the main problem.
The people with their small houses keep expanding their area of ownership, grabbing part of lake inch by inch. Civic body on several occasions admitted that it faced a lot of difficulty to rejuvenate Lendi Talao. There is no access to this lake from outside. One has to reach the lake through narrow lanes, violating the privacy of the residents. A huge green portion is visible inside, surrounded by houses is the Lendi Talao. The vegetation grown all over the lake has erased the existence of the very lake.
Yuvraj Nagpure, runs an agency that had bagged the contract of cleaning lakes across city. For him, Lendi Talao remained a challenge because of non-participation of public in rejuvenating the lake. People, who stay close to the lake, eat and dump leftover in the lake itself. This stale food is giving rise to the growth of unnecessary vegetation and spoiling its beauty. The non-eatable vegetation is growing fast and capturing entire area of the lake. Nagpure was hired by NMC, who did his work, but the civic body stopped his payments.
A resident of the area near the lake told ‘The Hitavada’, “Now, the grass has become so thick that a person having weight of 30 kg can walk easily on the lake. Our children walk on the lake and go to other sides. In the past, the grass could easily be plucked. But now, it is not possible.”
Another resident of the area - an old man - used unparliamentary words for the civic officers who turned blind eye towards this lake. This resident said, “Had they cleaned the lake regularly, it would have survived. But they don’t care. People of this residents too want the lake not to be cleaned. Nobody realises the real problem. If we keep killing the lakes, the next generation will suffer a lot.”
Though people are at fault as far as choking of Lendi Talao is concerned, NMC, too, has not taken enough efforts to maintain the water body. Most of the times it did wishy-washy work. Long ago, NMC had hired an agency from Bengaluru, that came, cleaned the lake, took the money and went away without providing permanent solution.
Those residing near the lake, needs to be relocated at the earliest. Problem of Lendi Talao has become Aegean stables. A simple wall bordering the lake could have made some difference. It was also not done.