Bengaluru was, not long ago, known as ‘a city of lakes’. Owing to unchecked urbanisation, rampant construction and illegal effluent discharge, a majority of these lakes are now toxic water bodies, dry wastelands or entirely lost to encroachment.

The Chikkanagamangala lake was one such vanished lake before Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw took personal interest in its rejuvenation. Working with Malligavad Foundation, the lake bed was desilted, inflow and outflow channels cleared and strengthened, bunds and lagoons created, using mostly natural materials, clay and gravel from the lake bed itself. Islands within the lake were forested with native species and a beautiful walking path designed. Not only was it important to replenish the lake, but also to invite back birds, fish, and the local community.

As the project unfolded and the lake bed reconnected with the clever water and irrigation system devised by the architects of Bengaluru in the 1600s, water began to finally return. Chikkanagamangala lake is today a thriving ecosystem that supports a diversity of new life within and around it.