From a garbage dump to Limca Book of Records: Bengaluru’s Hebbagodi lake gets a new life

Led by Biocon Foundation, Hebbagodi in Bengaluru’s IT hub offers lessons in lake conservation and makes it to Limca Book of Records for having India’s largest floating artificial island.

Not long back, Bengaluru’s Hebbagodi lake was more garbage dump, less water body. The sludge, weeds, and plastic waste are a thing of the past, and the lake - in Anekal Taluk of Electronic City – is now an example of how a water body can be revived. What’s more is that the lake has found a spot in the Limca Book of Records for having India’s largest floating artificial island.

The island, which has an area of 12,000 square feet, is covered with greenery and water bodies. Interestingly, plants are grown hydroponically on the island, which is built of floating rafts comprising reused PVC pipes. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil by using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent.

In addition to the island, the lake houses a children’s park and a drinking water facility.

What led to the turnaround? Two years ago, Biocon Foundation, the CSR arm of Biocon and Syngene International Ltd, took up the project by starting a feasibility study. In October 2017, Biocon Foundation joined hands with the government to restore the lake, reports Northeast Today.

Since then, the lake has been bought back to life by using 400 floating bio-remedial wetlands, bacterial enzymes, and mechanised aerators. Several bar screens were put in place to keep garbage out and prevent the lake from becoming a dumping ground again. Closed underground conduits were laid, and a culvert was built to control the overflowing of sewage. This led to a rise of dissolved oxygen from zero to 2.8mg/L; the pH value of water was maintained between 6.5 and 8.5.

In a conversation with The News Minute, Ashwin Kumar, an engineer who was part of the lake rejuvenation process, said, “We came across the concept while we were researching rejuvenation plans. We also knew about Neknampur lake in Hyderabad. We thought since our lake is much larger, we would require a much larger area of floating islands, and so applied for the Limca Book of Records.”

The record will be published in the 2019 February edition of Limca Book of Records.

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