Lakes don’t vanish in a single night — they fade slowly. Water darkens, aquatic life dies, birds fly away, and eventually, the space gets built over or buried in memory. Sarakki Lake in JP Nagar, once on that grim path, took a remarkable turn thanks to nine citizens who refused to surrender to neglect.

Since the early 2000s, the 92-acre lake was shrinking under the weight of untreated sewage, invasive weeds, and rampant encroachments. But in 2012, a group of mostly retired professionals — KS Bhat, Hariprasad Y, Ramachandra Joisa, Manjunath MP, Sudarshan G, Manish A, KR Sooryanarayana, Shankar Sastry, and Srivatsan — formed the Sarakki Lake Area Improvement Trust (SLAIT) to fight back.

Their first step: a lake survey, confirming its official size and exposing nearly 200 illegal structures. A Public Interest Litigation in 2013 led to a forceful eviction drive under police watch. After years of bureaucratic bouncing, the BBMP finally took charge in 2019.

The biggest challenge: stopping the influx of sewage from five channels. With persistent coordination, BWSSB helped install a sewage treatment plant by 2020. Desilting efforts followed, aided by IISc experts, and AMRUT-backed diversion pipelines stopped polluted inflow.

The changes were dramatic. Air quality improved, temperatures dropped 2°C, and the lake now sustains aquatic life and provides water security for 2 lakh people. Groundwater levels have risen by nearly 200 feet.

With over 2,500 trees planted and fish thriving, Sarakki is now an ecological success story — proof that ordinary citizens can achieve extraordinary change.