Meet Anand Malligavad, a techie who has revived dying Bengaluru's lakes

Malligavad has developed a lake revival model that could be quickly and cheaply replicated across different terrains

What can a single individual do when an entire megapolis rapidly begins to lose all its natural lakes and aquifers? A lot, clearly, judging by Bengaluru-based ex-techie Anand Malligavad’s efforts in the last two and a half years. Without the help of industry experts, ecologists or architects, Malligavad has founded the Lake Revivers Collective (LRC), which has already revived five lakes in India’s Silicon Valley and plans to work on 20 more by 2025. Incredibly, Malligavad has no technical training in this field: “All I have is a sense of urgency that if we don’t repair the damage we have wreaked on nature, if we don’t replenish and rejuvenate our lakes, it is going to end badly for all of us,” he says.

It all began when this mechanical engineer visited the 36-acre water body, Kyalasanahalli Lake in 2017. “It had been reduced to a bone-dry cricket field and dumping ground,” he says. “It struck me that I’d actually seen Bengaluru transform from a city of lakes to one where everyone depends on water tankers to meet their daily needs.” So he approached Sansera, the engineering company he worked for, to fund the rejuvenation of the lake. With local volunteers, three earth movers and six trucks, Malligavad removed almost 4 lakh cubic metres of mud from the lake. Again with the help of volunteers, he planted 18,000 saplings of indigenous trees including 3,000 fruit-bearing trees, 3,000 native plants and 2,000 medicinal plants. The excavated mud was used to create five “islands” in the lake for birds to nest. In a mere 45 days, the area had been transformed and in the monsoon that year, the lake that had been dead for 35 years, was filled. 

Anand Malligavad with volunteers. Photos: Anand Malligavad/Lake Revivers Collective

After this, Malligavad left his job to work on lake revival full-time and was joined by environmentalist Akshaya Devendra. Next, they worked on Vabasandra Lake, upstream of Kyalasanahalli Lake. With funding from Hewlett-Packard, LRC transformed nine acres of the lake into a 50-foot-deep water reservoir. The highly toxic Konasandra Lake was next on their radar. Runoffs from nearby pharma companies had turned its water into a gel-like sludge. “One of these companies provided the funds and we revived this lake within three months,” he says.  

These experiences have helped Malligavad develop a lake revival model that could be quickly and cheaply replicated across different terrains. “First, one must view the lake in its context,” he says. This involves, among other things, planting native trees and plants nearby and strengthening its banks with local grasses. “In the five projects we’ve undertaken so far, we have afforested 40 per cent of the area around the lake,” he says. “This improves the area’s biodiversity and builds its water-holding capacity.” 
 

Second, the rejuvenated lake must be able to sustain itself naturally after a period of time. To this end, LRC plants water-purifying lotuses and lilies in the water, soil-binding grasses on the lake’s edge and intersperses plantations with Miyawaki plantations (a Japanese technique of plantation that enables native saplings to grow ten times faster and denser than usual). Third, LRC involves local stakeholders — local communities as well as corporates, ensuring they have the funds and volunteers they need for each project. 

Malligavad is offering his expertise to similar revival projects across India. “This is all I want to do now,” he says. “My life is dedicated to lakes.”

To learn more, visit savelakes.com