MYSURU: Activists protesting against the desilting work at Kukkarahalli Lake on Saturday said that the project is ill-timed, pointing at the summer season and back-to-back droughts prevailing in the region. They have asked the district administration to get a team of experts to assess the project before continuing with it.Pointing out that the lake is not used for irrigation purpose, they said that only those water bodies which are used for irrigation are desilted during summer. "Kukkarahalli Lake is an ecological site, which attracts over 200 varieties of birds, many of them migratory. It could go dry in future if measures are not taken to get its fresh water during monsoon season by clearing encroachments on Poornaiah canal, its lifeline," they warned.While continuing their protest against the removal of silt from the lake bed, the activists clarified that they are not against desilting. They only have problem with the timing of the project.Ecologist U N Ravi Kumar said: "Kukkarahalli lake is an ecological hotspot and not an irrigation tank to be desilted at the peak of summer. It needs desilting, but not now. The authorities should ensure that it gets fresh water by clearing Poornaiah canal before they take up work to remove silt."Ravi Kumar, one of the experts whom the district administration had consulted before approving the Rs 3 crore project last March, said that the plan to desilt the lake was pending since 2010, when the water inflow was okay. "Now, sewage from residential areas and University of Mysore and Karnataka State Open University is diverted while the main federal canal is encroached. This will prove costly for the lake if the silt is removed now as the remaining water in the lake will go dry," he stated.Environmentalist Bhanu Mohan suspected that the Rs 65 lakh desilting project is taken up just ahead of the end of the fiscal to use funds. "If it is not used by March-end, the funds will lapse," she pointed out.Activist B Shashi Booshan, who has launched an online petition to save the lake, said that studies by IIT (Roorkee) have found that the desilting of lake at the peak of summer has led to drying of the lake. Desilting will denude the water body and prove perilous, he stated.Maj Gen (rtd) S G Vombatkere said that they have met DC D Randeep who has agreed to look into their demand. "We trust him. The DC should get experts to the spot and discuss with activists and decide the next course of action," he added.This comes amidst an assertion from Randeep that the project was cleared by experts. The bureaucrat has also said that he will hold discussions with the protesting environmentalists.The University of Mysore, which is the custodian of the lake, has said that desilting work will not stop as it is required to protect the water body. UoM registrar R Rajanna on Saturday said that the university is with the district administration in implementing the project. He said that a team of authorities, led by in-charge vice-chancellor Dayananda Mane , visited the project site on Thursday and assessed the situation. They later held a meeting with the officials concerned.Silent protest next weekContinuing their opposition to the desilting work, the activists will stage a silent protest in the DC's office premises on Tuesday. In the run-up to the dharna, they will continue the signature campaign and hold protests outside the lake bed and create awareness among the public, mainly walkers and joggers, who frequent the water body for fresh air.

Stay updated with all the Latest Mysore headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.