A 56-year-old grass cutter’s labour of love

Seenappa Srinivas

does not remember when he first started working at

Lower Ambalipura lake

in southeast Bengaluru. But he is its caretaker, companion and chronicler, from the days it was an overgrown trap of leeches to the sparkling fishing ground it is now.


Residents recall Seenappa, now 56, was among the dozen-odd labourers hired to clean the lake many years ago. Many left, refusing to tackle snakes and leeches in the

muddy waters

for little money, but Seenappa stayed back.

He knows the two-and-ahalf acre lake like the back of his hand. It is surrounded by four apartment complexes off Sarjarpur Road and is accessible through private entrances of the complexes.

Seenappa was hired by Rajesh Rao, an apartment dweller who went on to cofound the Mahadevapura Environment Protection Trust (MAPSAS) to clean up the lake. It was overrun with weeds, and sewage from the apartments was finding its way into the waters.

BBMP entered the picture in 2008, on the high court directions to clean up 40 lakes. MAPSAS, with extensive experience in revival of lakes in the area, guided the efforts. “Residents were able to involve the BBMP in the cleaning and rejuvenation of the lake for which I was hired. We would simply wade into the swamp barefoot to clean it. Many people came and left, scared of getting bitten by snakes but I stuck around,” Seenappa says.

The extra work earned him Rs 3,000 every month to start with, supplementing his income from cutting and selling grass. Those days, Seenappa would wake up at 4am and go to Bellandur Lake to cut grass and supply it to gaushalas in Hoodi, Srinagar and Halasuru. It earned him Rs 7,000 a month. He now cleans the walkway, weeds the lakebed and waters plants.

Though the only one among nine siblings not to receive any education, Seenappa had the responsibility of providing for his family as he was the eldest. When work began on the Lower Ambalipura Lake, Seenappa made it his work and mission. Though unlettered, his intimate knowledge of the inflows and outflows of the lake, the birds that flock to it and the care it requires made him a resident expert. While the lake is not much of a home for migratory birds, it is now open to contractual fishing.

“After cutting grass at Bellandur, I come to Lower Ambalipura around 9.30am and stay back and work till 5.30pm,” says Seenappa.

He says around 100 people visit the lake in the morning and evening to exercise. “I spend the whole day here ensuring the lake is healthy. I also have to ensure there is no over-fishing, and that the snakes are in check.”

Corrigendum

The report on

Hebbal Lake

– ‘When Pensioners Breathed Life Into a Dumpyard’ – erroneously referred to East India Hotels as East End Hotels. The error is regretted.