Brief
Kasturinagar residents plant 600 saplings
Volunteers planted 600 saplings on the 6.5‑acre lake as part of a community‑led restoration effort.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Volunteers from Kasturinagar, together with an NGO, planted 600 fruit and shade‑giving saplings around the reclaimed Kasturinagar Lake in Bengaluru on Oct. 20, 2026, according to the New Indian Express.
The planting covered the 6.5‑acre lake perimeter and included jamun, guava, sapota and bird‑cherry trees. Residents said they had pooled over Rs 40 lakh a year earlier to revive the dead water body, which is now under the Forest Department’s jurisdiction. Bird activity, including peahen and peacock sightings, has increased since the revival.
Abhijith M.S., a member of the Kasturinagar Welfare Association, explained that the saplings serve a dual purpose of defining the lake boundary and providing food and habitat for birds. He noted that the community had previously planted a few saplings last year and that the new planting expands that effort.
The lake’s ownership history is complex. The land was originally part of a 19‑acre notification by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in 1986. Subsequent allocations gave 2 acres to the Railways and 3 acres to the Outer Ring Road project. A 1989 Laxman Rao Committee report ordered the remaining 13 acres to be handed to the Forest Department, but the BDA later laid out 6.5 acres of the lake land. In 2010, a government order transferred all lakes to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), but another order the same year assigned 43 lakes, including Kasturinagar, to the BDA for development until 2019, which did not materialise. A 2019 order again sought to transfer the lakes to BBMP, which declined due to land‑record mismatches. The Rajasthan High Court later confirmed that about 13.20 acres, including the lake, remained under Forest Department custody, allowing residents and the NGO to proceed with restoration.
Key facts
- 600 fruit and shade‑giving saplings were planted around Kasturinagar Lake. (newindianexpress.com)
- The lake covers 6.5 acres and was revived after residents raised over Rs 40 lakh. (newindianexpress.com)
- Bird activity, including peahen and peacock sightings, has increased since the revival. (newindianexpress.com)
- The land’s ownership shifted among BDA, Railways, Outer Ring Road, Forest Department and BBMP over decades. (newindianexpress.com)
Sources
- [1] newindianexpress.com — originally reported as “Bengaluru's Kasturinagar residents plant 600 saplings around revived lake”
