Impact of Bengaluru Urban Growth on its Lakes

Currently, around half of the world's population lives in urban areas, which is only expected to increase in the future. The urban water resources took the brunt of this uncontrolled urbanization and expansion resulting in a swift decline in lakes and ponds in the cities. Bengaluru is one of the most prominent cities in India where the urban water body areas have fallen drastically over the years. This study attempts to assess the impact of urban growth in reducing the surface area of the water bodies in Bengaluru. The study used decadal Land Use Land Cover (LULC) maps between 1988 to 2020 generated from Landsat 4–5 and 8 datasets using the Maximum Likelihood (ML) technique to study and understand urban sprawl in Bengaluru and the changes occurring in water spread area. The results indicate that Bengaluru city has undergone a massive growth from 100 Sq. km to 600 Sq. km between 1988 to 2020. This excessive sprawl has blocked the ephemeral streams that replenish the water bodies, thus causing heavy damage not only to water bodies in the region but also to the vegetation present in the periphery of the expanding city.