Bengaluru's Lakes Worth Rs 9,400 Crore If Unpolluted: IISc Study

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The study stated that as the pollution increases in the lakes, their economic value declines considerably.

The famous lakes and waterbodies of Bengaluru would be worth a whopping Rs 9,418 crore had they remained unpolluted for decades, an assessment made by scientists from the Indian Institute Of Science (IISc).

Working on the System Of Environmental Economics Accounting (SEEA) framework listed by the United Nations, the IISc researchers, headed by Prof TV Ramachandra, have successfully come up with a scientific model called BLiS (Bangalore Lake Information System).

According to the model, “As the pollution increases in the lakes, their economic value declines considerably. Considering the economic value of Jakkur and Rachenahalli lakes, it is Rs 10,500 per hectare per day under normal conditions. If in these areas the value has fallen by Rs 20 per hectare per day. As each lake becomes polluted, its value slowly declines.”

The IISc study further took note of other services that these water bodies would have provided daily if they had not been pushed to the brink as a concrete jungle engulfed the ‘Garden City’.

Reports suggest as Bengaluru and other districts of Karnataka face a water crisis, the maximum temperature is higher than normal. In a weather bulletin released on March 15, the IMD said that overall dry weather in Karnataka will last for 48 hours. The Meteorological Department has predicted that the maximum temperature may increase by 2-3 degrees Celsius in Bagalkote, Dharwad, Gadag-Betageri, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Bangalore, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya and Mysore districts.

Talking about the temperature further, the IMD has predicted partly cloudy conditions for 48 hours. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be 35 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius respectively.

Earlier, in 2016, the IISc study claimed that Bengaluru will witness an alarming growth of built–up area in the last 40 years. The growth has been a phenomenal 525 per cent. It also stated that the vegetation of the once “Green City” Bengaluru has seen a decline of 78 per cent. The city, also known as Lake City, lost 79 per cent of its water bodies during this period.