The tropical Indian ecology pushed communities to develop the art and science of rainwater collection since antiquity. Traditionally, harvesting rainwater through ponds, lakes, and wetlands formed an integral part of a holistic water system that included rivers, canals, wells, aquifers, and springs. These decentralized systems sustained irrigation, livestock, and domestic needs in rural areas, supported by generations of community water management practices embedded in both utilitarian and ritualistic values.
With industrialization and urbanization, the focus shifted toward large-scale infrastructures—dams, canals, and water supply and drainage networks—built and managed by governments or private corporations. As the urban landscape expanded, water governance evolved into a model where citizens became passive consumers and the state the default provider. Consequently, the numerous lakes and ponds within cities were neglected, excluded from urban planning, and mismanaged across fragmented institutions. Many water bodies turned into cesspools, landfill sites, or “no-go” zones.
Over the past two decades, as urban floods, droughts, and waste crises intensified, lakes and ponds began attracting renewed attention from local authorities, experts, and citizens. Their degradation raised urgent questions: Why are cities flooding? Why have lakes become dump yards and breeding grounds for disease? Why is groundwater depleting? Where are public spaces?
Since the launch of the National Lake Conservation Plan, interest in urban lakes has surged, accompanied by new concepts—development, restoration, rejuvenation, and conservation. At their core lies the idea of reclaiming lakes for ecosystem functions and community use. Yet, unlike rural water management based on small, cohesive communities, urban initiatives face the challenge of mobilizing large, diverse populations toward common goals of protection, compliance, and stewardship.
Across India, however, notable efforts have emerged where local communities, often with support from authorities or businesses, have revived urban lakes. One such example is the Puttenahalli Lake rejuvenation in Bengaluru, discussed in this essay.
The Session
The Wednesdays.for.Water session on “Lake and Water Conservation – (Urban) Community in Collective Action,” part of the Lake/Pond series organized by WforW Foundation, was moderated by Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava. The session featured Usha Rajagopalan, writer-turned-conservationist and co-founder of the Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (2010). Having earlier worked with Verghese Kurien, known for revolutionizing India’s dairy cooperatives, Rajagopalan shared insights from mobilizing the urban community for environmental action, highlighting both opportunities and challenges in citizen-led water conservation.
This essay draws upon that session to reflect on collective action and urban lake rejuvenation.
From Individual Concern to Collective Action
Rajagopalan’s shift from writer to conservationist exemplifies the personal-to-collective transition in urban environmentalism. Observing the degradation of Puttenahalli Lake—choked by debris, sewage, and encroachments—from her apartment balcony catalyzed her activism. Influenced by her father’s service in the Indian Forest Department, she turned concern into action.
Mobilizing residents proved difficult at first—a pattern consistent with research on collective action barriers (Ostrom, 1990). Through door-to-door engagement and partnerships with key community members like Mukesh Ashar and Ashok Das, the group gradually built trust and participation. Visible improvements to the lake spurred community enthusiasm: “Once the lake was revived, it was easy to get people to participate because they could see what was happening on the ground.”
Navigating Bureaucracy and Political Networks
Interfacing with bureaucracy was a major hurdle. Early efforts—media campaigns, petitions, and public meetings—yielded little response. “None of those worked,” Rajagopalan noted. Progress came only after leveraging local networks through Ashwin Mahesh, which led to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) including Puttenahalli Lake in its official rejuvenation list.
This reliance on social capital underscores the uneven accessibility of governance systems—while connected groups can advance projects, others without such networks often remain excluded.
Technical Learning and Adaptive Management
The rejuvenation faced technical challenges—from misaligned inlet pipes to poor drainage design. Community-led commissioning of a total station survey in 2012 and the construction of a diversion channel demonstrated how citizen groups develop technical expertise through necessity.
A landmark achievement was integrating treated wastewater from nearby apartments into the lake’s water source, after approvals from the State Pollution Control Board. This innovation reflected confidence in decentralized wastewater reuse and demonstrated the potential of local-level water circularity.
Constant water testing, monitoring at multiple points, and vigilance against sewage inflow reshaped the community’s understanding of shared responsibility—showing that urban water management requires ongoing citizen engagement, not one-time interventions.
Sustaining Community Engagement
The Puttenahalli initiative emphasized creating stakeholders rather than passive volunteers. Programs like tree adoption, allowing donors to dedicate trees to loved ones, fostered emotional and financial investment. Inclusion of children from nearby slums in tree-planting and educational activities helped bridge social divides.
Formed in 2010, the Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (J.P. Nagar) became the lake’s official custodian under an agreement with BBMP in 2011. Its consistent communication—emails, website updates, and educational signage—strengthened awareness and accountability. “Only if people are aware will they become concerned, and only if they are concerned will they act,” Rajagopalan emphasized.
Legal and Social Conflicts
Encroachment remains the toughest challenge. Despite inclusive community engagement, squatter settlements near the lake expanded from 30–40 families in 2010 to 115 by 2015. Legal disputes over land rights persist, with slow judicial processes stalling resolution. Neither petitioners nor government authorities have pursued the case actively, exposing systemic weaknesses in environmental law enforcement.
As Rajagopalan observed, “Unless the government and political authorities take decisive actions on encroachment, such problems exceed the capacity of citizen groups to resolve.”
Way Forward: Scaling the Model
The Puttenahalli Lake case reveals both hope and hard realities. It proves that with knowledge, persistence, and collaboration, citizen groups can achieve substantial ecological restoration. Yet, it also exposes structural limits—overreliance on personal networks, legal fragility, and the need for continuous maintenance.
In a city like Bengaluru, among India’s most water-stressed, such community-led governance offers a blueprint for resilience. As Rajagopalan asserts, “The governance of lakes cannot be top-down. It has to start with the people and end with the people.”
Today, Bengaluru hosts around 67 active lake groups, many with agreements with BBMP. Organic collaboration among them hints at a growing movement. The proposed Federation of Bangalore Lakes could synchronize citizen efforts to protect the city’s remaining 183 lakes (of the 205 recorded in the last century). A co-management vision is both an aspiration and an urgent necessity for cities facing population growth, environmental degradation, and climate change.
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Alejandra Amor works with the Greater Cambridge City Council as a Policy Strategy and Economy Intern and is a Senior Research Fellow (part-time) with WforW Foundation. Dr. Mansee Bal Bhargava is an entrepreneur, researcher, educator, speaker, and mentor. More about her: www.mansee.in, www.edc.org.in, www.wforw.in, www.woder.org
Wednesdays.for.Water is an initiative of the WforW Foundation, a citizens’ collective think tank connecting water worries and wisdom with water workers through discussions and debates. Its mission is to make water conversations for water conservation, engaging policymakers, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and youth
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