Context

• Wetlands, including urban lakes, cover nearly 6% of the planet’s surface and are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth.
• They play a vital role in carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, flood control and human well-being.
• However, rapid and unplanned urbanisation is destroying India’s lakes at an alarming rate. Their degradation is weakening cities’ natural defences against climate change, flooding, heat stress and water scarcity.

Causes of Urban Lake Destruction

• Rapid and Unplanned Urbanisation
  • Increasing urbanisation has placed enormous pressure on land. Lakes and wetlands are often treated as vacant or economically unproductive land rather than essential ecological infrastructure.
  • Consequently, they are encroached upon for housing, highways and commercial development.
• Rising Land Values
  • Over the past five decades, urban land prices have increased substantially.
  • In cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai, former agricultural areas and lake catchments have become valuable real estate.
  • Lakes are therefore increasingly viewed as an opportunity cost, creating economic incentives for their conversion.
• Pollution and Institutional Apathy
  • Encroachment is only one dimension of the crisis. Many lakes have become dumping grounds for untreated sewage, industrial effluents and municipal solid waste.
  • Weak enforcement and fragmented institutional responsibility have allowed pollution and degradation to continue.

The Scale of the Crisis

• CAG reports have highlighted significant lake shrinkage in Jammu and Kashmir, including the loss of more than 500 lakes since 1967.
• Hyderabad has reportedly lost around 61% of its lake area since 1979.
• Around 268 water bodies disappeared in Hyderabad between 2002 and 2012, according to one study.
• The consequences are becoming increasingly serious as cities face urban heat islands, extreme rainfall, flooding and water shortages.
• Healthy lakes can function as urban climate buffers and sponge systems, absorbing excess water and moderating local environmental conditions.

The Cases of Taken for Granted

• From Civic Assets to Real Estate
  • Historically, lakes were valued for their role in supporting urban water management and local livelihoods.
  • Slower urban expansion and relatively affordable land helped protect them. Today, rapid development has transformed surrounding land into commercially valuable property.
  • This has encouraged the filling, fragmentation and conversion of wetlands, destroying their natural drainage and ecological functions.
• Limits of Formal Recognition
  • India’s increasing number of Ramsar sites reflects growing recognition of the importance of wetlands.
  • However, international recognition does not automatically translate into effective conservation at the local level.
  • Urban wetlands continue to face:
    • Unclear boundaries
    • Encroachment
    • Disrupted catchment areas
    • Pollution
    • Weak enforcement
• Policy-Implementation Gap
  • Programmes such as AMRUT, Jal Shakti Abhiyan and Mission Amrit Sarovar provide useful policy frameworks.
  • However, their impact is often weakened by fragmented accountability, poor inter-departmental coordination and inadequate enforcement.
  • A major problem is the preference for beautification over ecological restoration.
  • Promenades, lighting and fencing may improve appearance, but they cannot restore a lake if its feeder channels, catchments and water quality remain damaged.

Successful Models of Lake Restoration

• Institutional Intervention: HYDRAA
  • Telangana’s Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) demonstrates the potential of stronger institutional action.
  • It has:
  • Reclaimed encroached lakebeds.
  • Removed illegal structures from Full Tank Level zones.
  • Undertaken restoration of several water bodies.
  • Desilted blocked feeder channels.
  • Restored natural hydrological flows.
  • The restoration of Nalla Cheruvu provides a significant example. Reviving feeder channels and removing accumulated silt increased its water spread from 16 acres to 30 acres.
• Community Participation
  • Community-led lake champions in Bengaluru and Hyderabad have helped revive water bodies such as Puttenahalli, Jakkur and Kudikunta.
  • These initiatives demonstrate that local ownership and citizen participation can play an important role in protecting urban ecosystems.
  • However, isolated successes are insufficient.
  • Without legal backing, sustained funding and statutory enforcement, successful community initiatives may remain exceptions rather than becoming models that can be replicated across cities.

The Way Forward

• Improve Institutional Coordination
  • Responsibilities currently distributed among multiple agencies should be streamlined through unified and accountable governance mechanisms.
  • Effective monitoring and enforcement are essential for long-term protection.
• Institutionalise Citizen Participation
  • Citizens should not merely participate in occasional clean-up drives.
  • Community monitoring, stewardship and public accountability should become permanent components of lake governance.
• Shift from Beautification to Ecological Restoration
  • Urban lake projects must prioritise water quality, biodiversity, natural drainage, feeder channels and catchment restoration rather than focusing primarily on aesthetic improvements.

Conclusion

• India’s urban lakes are living ecosystems, not vacant land or decorative landscapes. Their destruction increases cities’ vulnerability to floods, extreme heat, water scarcity and environmental degradation.
• Protecting them requires a shift from short-term beautification to ecological restoration, strong legal protection, integrated urban planning and accountable governance.
• Government agencies and citizens must work together to preserve these natural assets.
• Cities that restore lakes as functioning ecosystems will strengthen their climate resilience and long-term urban liveability in an increasingly warming and water-stressed future.