Shared experiences for the community- public 1
While the notion of public is being restricted to the idea of the visiting public with aesthetic or entertainment in mind, there is also the other public that have access and use the lake perhaps without the sanction of the lake managers. Our study confirms apart from the constructed visual and recreational experience of a public park, a lake is also a resource with multiple levels of usership. In that way a lake is a shared experience for the users not only as an urban landscape but as a resource of livelihoods and water. The lake is then revealed as a shared presence in the lives of these multiple users with varied experiential meanings.
There are direct users such as washer folk, fishing people, cattle owners some of them having legal withdrawal and access rights while others do not have legal permission either for access or for resource use. The legal entry to the lake is through the park gates whereas the illegal entry takes place through the unfenced eastern banks close to the highway.
For the villager of Hebbal, the lake is imbued with sacred meaning and also sacred conflicts. The lake for the villagers is 'Gangavva':
The sacred mother in whose name periodic fights happen resulting in breaking of and reconstructing of the Goddess.
The washer folk vehemently assured us that they did not use the Hebbal Lake water for washing clothes as the water is not clean. They used water off a miniature pool formed in the eastern bank of the lake where the Cauvery pipeline passes by because that water is supposed to be clean and fresh. The dhobi defended himself by also saying that the leak in the pipe is a natural one.For those who collect weeds off the lake, the lake is a sources for cattle feed. These are again squatters or illegal entrants to the lake. For them the weeds are not a threat to the lake life nor an unwelcome invasion that mar the beauty of the lake.
The fishing contract is another multiple resource use scenario with the ownership of the fishes in the lake vested with the Fisheries Department who gives off 5-year lease contracts for their harvest. The local fishing contractor now is hiring migrant labour from Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh to fish for him.
The field notes reflect these users, the public.
Just before the public- private partnership
Nov 2006
Meet the lake
Interviewers- Meera, Sreeja and Sowjanya
On the first day, we decided to walk along the lake perimeter and see for ourselves a bit
of the local geography. One could say we wanted to experience the tangible reality of the lake we were about to engage with. All three of us were committed to some sort of eco-friendliness and Indira, one more of our colleagues joined us for the walk as she had previous
acquaintance with the lake as a visitor.
We paid the entrance fee of RS. 5 and went in. The side service road was full of small vendors in push carts selling roasted corn on cob, ice cream, chats and other local fast food items. There was not much litter around. The lake entrance was a large archway and the ticket booth was to the right. I briefly ask the booth attendant who was in the management of the lake while i continued to hunt for change in my hand bag. He hurried us on and said that the Oberoi hotel was the management. As the visitors were trickling in, he was reluctant to chat with us so we moved inside. We also did not have anything concrete to ask him so early in our project.
When we entered the park we found notices of the forest department
still in place asking us not to litter etc and the department name had been struck out.
There were lots of visitors walking, children
playing. All the snack stalls were outside the lake gate. Cartoon figure dustbins were placed around the people area of the park.
As soon as we walked in, we saw two young men fishing with lines close to the boat jetty. The pedal boats were lying disused and the water weeds surrounded the jetty. The young man ( A ) was flinging a plastic twine into the water and pulling out small wriggling fish anddropping them it an orange plastic pot. Very politely we asked him what he was doing. He told us that he was fishing and that he did not sell the fish. He was
a resident of Bhoopasandra, an area that would have been on the southern bank of the lake but has been since separated by the ring road. We were curious about the fish and asked him if perhaps he actually ate them or did he sell them? He replied that he gave them to watchman in return to do "Time Pass" fishing. We peered into the fish pot and found small aquarium size fishes wriggling and wondered if there were fish in the lake worth calling the fishing activity or fish would even classify as resource? Any way since this fisherman was friendly we asked him if there were other people who fish in the lake.He said that maybe there were boats in the morning. He seemed ready to answer more questions and I asked him a direct question. I asked him if he could continue to fish if the management changed to the hotel chain. Very nonchalantly he said that the Nagavara tank that had been developed was charging 20 rupees for the entry and it was quite likely that Oberoi management would do the same. He also had told us that he actually got in free in return for the fish that he gave the watchman so it was actually a question of whether this practice would continue after the change in the management.
Respondent 2: From Bidar and Karwar
As we were walking along we noticed two well dressed young men with ID tags walking along. They looked like computer professionals — the guess was accurate and perhaps it would be interesting to see what about them, gave us this idea that they were IT professionals — The ID tags and the image of Bangalore as a software city of Bangalore perhaps helped us identify them. On striking up a conversation I began with the question if they often came to Hebbal Lake? They said that they had come here the first time and they were taking a break from work. The question of where they worked seemed natural and they informed us that they were from a famous software company. They also told us they came to lake for relaxation. We introduced ourselves as students studying the Hebbal Lake and asked them if they knew anything about the water birds. I did not think it right to ask about the management change right away as they would not have a clue about earlier management being first time visitors. They did not know anything about the birds. What was interesting was that one hand they had come there to experience peace and calm and relaxation and the same time they were happy with the idea that there would be a floating restaurant in the middle of the lake.
Q: There will be a floating restaurant in the lake. What do you think of it?
A: "I think it will be nice".
Q: Why?
A: "Well, we can go by boat to eat and drink. It will be fun".
They were in a hurry and we thought it best to end the interview.
Interviewers- Meera , Sreeja and Sowjanya. questions were asked in
Kannada, the local language.
(Ethnographic thick description type notes)
The study was undertaken at 6.30 a.m. on November 23 rd Thursday 2006.
The visit was to basically look at the fishing population around the lake. It was early morning and the there was very less traffic around .The boat was already in water and so we struck up some conversation with locals. The approach of the people is on the rock bank, opposite
to the park area. There was a cowherd washing his cattle in the shallow bank. Two washer folk were near the lake: one man and one woman. They were counting the clothes. We asked them if they washed clothes in the lake and they told us that there was a connection from the Kaveri pipeline which was broken. There was a continuously flowing stream of fresh water from the broken pipe into the lake. They used that to wash clothes. Later we noticed the washer people moving to the rocky bank of the lake, where they began washing clothes on the lake shore.
playing. All the snack stalls were outside the lake gate. Cartoon figure dustbins were placed around the people area of the park.
As soon as we walked in, we saw two young men fishing with lines close to the boat jetty. The pedal boats were lying disused and the water weeds surrounded the jetty. The young man ( A ) was flinging a plastic twine into the water and pulling out small wriggling fish anddropping them it an orange plastic pot. Very politely we asked him what he was doing. He told us that he was fishing and that he did not sell the fish. He was
a resident of Bhoopasandra, an area that would have been on the southern bank of the lake but has been since separated by the ring road. We were curious about the fish and asked him if perhaps he actually ate them or did he sell them? He replied that he gave them to watchman in return to do "Time Pass" fishing. We peered into the fish pot and found small aquarium size fishes wriggling and wondered if there were fish in the lake worth calling the fishing activity or fish would even classify as resource? Any way since this fisherman was friendly we asked him if there were other people who fish in the lake.He said that maybe there were boats in the morning. He seemed ready to answer more questions and I asked him a direct question. I asked him if he could continue to fish if the management changed to the hotel chain. Very nonchalantly he said that the Nagavara tank that had been developed was charging 20 rupees for the entry and it was quite likely that Oberoi management would do the same. He also had told us that he actually got in free in return for the fish that he gave the watchman so it was actually a question of whether this practice would continue after the change in the management.
Respondent 2: From Bidar and Karwar
As we were walking along we noticed two well dressed young men with ID tags walking along. They looked like computer professionals — the guess was accurate and perhaps it would be interesting to see what about them, gave us this idea that they were IT professionals — The ID tags and the image of Bangalore as a software city of Bangalore perhaps helped us identify them. On striking up a conversation I began with the question if they often came to Hebbal Lake? They said that they had come here the first time and they were taking a break from work. The question of where they worked seemed natural and they informed us that they were from a famous software company. They also told us they came to lake for relaxation. We introduced ourselves as students studying the Hebbal Lake and asked them if they knew anything about the water birds. I did not think it right to ask about the management change right away as they would not have a clue about earlier management being first time visitors. They did not know anything about the birds. What was interesting was that one hand they had come there to experience peace and calm and relaxation and the same time they were happy with the idea that there would be a floating restaurant in the middle of the lake.
Q: There will be a floating restaurant in the lake. What do you think of it?
A: "I think it will be nice".
Q: Why?
A: "Well, we can go by boat to eat and drink. It will be fun".
They were in a hurry and we thought it best to end the interview.
Interviewers- Meera , Sreeja and Sowjanya. questions were asked in
Kannada, the local language.
(Ethnographic thick description type notes)
The study was undertaken at 6.30 a.m. on November 23 rd Thursday 2006.
The visit was to basically look at the fishing population around the lake. It was early morning and the there was very less traffic around .The boat was already in water and so we struck up some conversation with locals. The approach of the people is on the rock bank, opposite
to the park area. There was a cowherd washing his cattle in the shallow bank. Two washer folk were near the lake: one man and one woman. They were counting the clothes. We asked them if they washed clothes in the lake and they told us that there was a connection from the Kaveri pipeline which was broken. There was a continuously flowing stream of fresh water from the broken pipe into the lake. They used that to wash clothes. Later we noticed the washer people moving to the rocky bank of the lake, where they began washing clothes on the lake shore.
The next interview with the local respondent helped us to place the lake in perspectives of its history and the local environments. It was by sheer luck that we ran into this well dressed man in the early hours. We actually went to look for the fishermen and we had an idea that the fishes would be caught early in the morning. We took a muddy
path leading along from the side of the road to wards the lake. This was adjacent to the national highway NH 7 As we walked down what seemed to be old road we met a young man in a cap and a nice dress who first said he was a fisher man but later heturned out to be a person who used to fish. We were lucky because hewas a resident of Hebbal village and had spent almost his whole life in the park.
The interview was in Kannada. We found that he was a resident of Hebbala Village next to the Lake and he was a painter by profession at Kengeri. He was willing to talk and rather boastfully gave us many details .He told us with pride that he fished sometimes in the lake. He informed us that he had grown up on the banks of the lake and was sure that the size of the lake had shrunk since his childhood. He recollected swimming in the lake and drinking the water
from the lake. "Now the water is green and filled with Pachi (Algae)" he said with disgust.
"Before the mud was red and the water was sweet". He pointed to the
road we were standing on and told us that it was the main road. We
noticed a shrine close to the place we were standing and asked him what that was? The lake had a temple dedicated to "gangavva" the deity of the lake.
Worship at this place took place during the annual village festival (called Jatre).Two caste communities fought over the
privilege of carrying a lamp and this quarrel lead to miscreants breaking the structure. We noticed that next to the older stone structure is a newer whitewashed temple with pictures of Gods and Goddesses. The interesting conversation about the temple gave us an idea of the indirect users of the lake.
With a very self important tone, the young man volunteered information that one Sadhu used to come there only on new moon and did pooja with pumpkins and all that, but now he does not come. We were curious with this tale and just to let the informer continue with his story we
asked him if it was a night Pooja. "Yes! with Tantra and Mantra" he declared dramatically.
We moved to the questions about fishing and he gave us vital information. The fishing is a very regulated resource activity with a contract from the fisheries department in Lal Bagh. We also found out that the fishes have been introduced. He told us of the different contractors and also told us that the now the contract is with one Ppa. We found out that Ppa has one fish stall in the highway (pointing Bangalore- Hyderabad Road). It was more of a shack. He also told us that there there were many stalls, 6-7 of them, 6 of them on the other bank. (on the ring road bank) and one on the opposite side of the road.
After this we paused. Suddenly he again asked us to look at another lake "You should look at the Yellanamarappa Lake. It is much more beautiful".
He again went on to describe the earlier lake managements. We found out that before the fisheries department there used to be a Nppa from Kodegehally who engaged a guard to run around the lake. The respondent did not have pleasant memories of the lake from
that period. He called them thieves. "They had a guard with a bandook (gun)" he recollected.
He told us the names of some fish in the lake which we were not able
to understand such as Catla, Rohu…
I asked him if fishing would be affected by boating activities. He said that unless the nets were damaged, there would be no problem and also that the oils spills would not matter as the pollution would get diluted. He was very worried about the weeds as they moved. He wanted
put some 'chemicals' that would kill the weeds. The boat drew closer
to the shore and we asked him how much fish each boat brought in? He told us that there are three boats and each can hold 300kg (sic) .We later found out that this information was not correct.
I wondered if birds got stuck in the nets or if people ate eggs of the water birds?
He said that if they are stuck in the net the people would keep them.
"For eating? " We asked very pleasantly. He repeated "We keep them!
We don't take eggs".
There was another pause and I clicked some photographs of the boat on the lake. Just wanted to make sure that he had all that he wanted to tell us so I asked him –"What else can you tell us about the lake"? and this conversation is better reported in direct speech. By now we
knew our respondent was not only a good informer but also given to dramatizations and exaggerations.(he would be a journalist respondent I think)
A-There are dead bodies in the lake. (Dramatically)
Q- Dead people? Who puts them there? (We were a bit shocked but we
recovered as we realized he was talking about suicides)
A-People kill themselves. Once I was fishing and there were strange waves. I saw that there was a person who was going up and down in the waters. I rushed up and pulled them out by the hair and slapped them. They had drunk a lot of water. It was a teacher from Yelahanka whose
mind was not ok. Like that people try and kill themselves
He posed for this nice photograph and then he left saying he had to go to work.
path leading along from the side of the road to wards the lake. This was adjacent to the national highway NH 7 As we walked down what seemed to be old road we met a young man in a cap and a nice dress who first said he was a fisher man but later heturned out to be a person who used to fish. We were lucky because hewas a resident of Hebbal village and had spent almost his whole life in the park.
The interview was in Kannada. We found that he was a resident of Hebbala Village next to the Lake and he was a painter by profession at Kengeri. He was willing to talk and rather boastfully gave us many details .He told us with pride that he fished sometimes in the lake. He informed us that he had grown up on the banks of the lake and was sure that the size of the lake had shrunk since his childhood. He recollected swimming in the lake and drinking the water
from the lake. "Now the water is green and filled with Pachi (Algae)" he said with disgust.
"Before the mud was red and the water was sweet". He pointed to the
road we were standing on and told us that it was the main road. We
noticed a shrine close to the place we were standing and asked him what that was? The lake had a temple dedicated to "gangavva" the deity of the lake.
Worship at this place took place during the annual village festival (called Jatre).Two caste communities fought over theprivilege of carrying a lamp and this quarrel lead to miscreants breaking the structure. We noticed that next to the older stone structure is a newer whitewashed temple with pictures of Gods and Goddesses. The interesting conversation about the temple gave us an idea of the indirect users of the lake.
With a very self important tone, the young man volunteered information that one Sadhu used to come there only on new moon and did pooja with pumpkins and all that, but now he does not come. We were curious with this tale and just to let the informer continue with his story we
asked him if it was a night Pooja. "Yes! with Tantra and Mantra" he declared dramatically.
We moved to the questions about fishing and he gave us vital information. The fishing is a very regulated resource activity with a contract from the fisheries department in Lal Bagh. We also found out that the fishes have been introduced. He told us of the different contractors and also told us that the now the contract is with one Ppa. We found out that Ppa has one fish stall in the highway (pointing Bangalore- Hyderabad Road). It was more of a shack. He also told us that there there were many stalls, 6-7 of them, 6 of them on the other bank. (on the ring road bank) and one on the opposite side of the road.
After this we paused. Suddenly he again asked us to look at another lake "You should look at the Yellanamarappa Lake. It is much more beautiful".
He again went on to describe the earlier lake managements. We found out that before the fisheries department there used to be a Nppa from Kodegehally who engaged a guard to run around the lake. The respondent did not have pleasant memories of the lake from
that period. He called them thieves. "They had a guard with a bandook (gun)" he recollected.
He told us the names of some fish in the lake which we were not able
to understand such as Catla, Rohu…
I asked him if fishing would be affected by boating activities. He said that unless the nets were damaged, there would be no problem and also that the oils spills would not matter as the pollution would get diluted. He was very worried about the weeds as they moved. He wanted
put some 'chemicals' that would kill the weeds. The boat drew closer
to the shore and we asked him how much fish each boat brought in? He told us that there are three boats and each can hold 300kg (sic) .We later found out that this information was not correct.
I wondered if birds got stuck in the nets or if people ate eggs of the water birds?
He said that if they are stuck in the net the people would keep them.
"For eating? " We asked very pleasantly. He repeated "We keep them!
We don't take eggs".
There was another pause and I clicked some photographs of the boat on the lake. Just wanted to make sure that he had all that he wanted to tell us so I asked him –"What else can you tell us about the lake"? and this conversation is better reported in direct speech. By now we
knew our respondent was not only a good informer but also given to dramatizations and exaggerations.(he would be a journalist respondent I think)
A-There are dead bodies in the lake. (Dramatically)
Q- Dead people? Who puts them there? (We were a bit shocked but we
recovered as we realized he was talking about suicides)
A-People kill themselves. Once I was fishing and there were strange waves. I saw that there was a person who was going up and down in the waters. I rushed up and pulled them out by the hair and slapped them. They had drunk a lot of water. It was a teacher from Yelahanka whose
mind was not ok. Like that people try and kill themselves
He posed for this nice photograph and then he left saying he had to go to work.
Sowjanya's report
Interviewers- Meera , Sreeja and Sowjanya
Respondent 2 : Mukesh, Migrant fisherman from Kuppam, AP
The respondent's name was Mukesh aged around 20-25 years. He had been fishing as an wage worker for a contractor named Ppa who owned four boats. He was here along with 6 of his fellow villagers who had all been got here by Ppa exclusively for carrying out this activity. He is
not engaged otherwise and the rest of the day goes in mending the fishing gear. They are paid Rs.20 as fixed wage per day and Rs. 4 over and above that for every kg of fish catch. They catch around 20-30 kg of fish per day. Ppa has the fishing contract for Hebbal lake for 5 years from the Fisheries Department. Mukesh and his other fellow villagers go home once a month to meet their families who take care of agricultural land (size - ??). Mukesh has three brothers who take care of the land in the village.
The fisherman community generally did not seem anxious about the prospective development of the lake as they felt that their right would be safe guarded and they would still continue fishing in the early morning and late evening hours after the park closed for visitors. They had a small shack on the bank of the lake itself and all six of them lived there with bare necessities. He showed us fish catch and told us that they regularly see the following varieties of fish – catlac, catla, rohu, mrigal, chali, jilabi, bigede, tiger jilabi, glasscar etc. They collect only the larger fishes and throw back the younger ones. The boats are procured from Mettur. They were more concerned about the water hyacinth infestation in the lake which could get trapped into the fishing net if the breeze carried it towards the net.As we observed the contractor himself came with other helpers to carry and weigh the fish at a nearby small stall made of tin sheets which was the fish outlet for other retailers and hotel
businessman to buy from. Ppa seemed reluctant to talk and we could not engage him in a longer conversation.
Conversation with Sri. Srinivasan, Thoreau foundation
Report by Sowjanya
The Thoreau society was involved with the cleaning operation of the lake. It is located in the RT Nagar, Anand Nagar area and is backed by the residents association as the Hebbal Lake is the favorite destination for the residents of these areas for morning strolls and
weekend relaxation. Sri. Srinivasan to whom I (along with Meera) talked to has been involved in the affairs of the lake for the past years. He could talk of the times when people including students used to get together to clean the lake manually.
This practice had to bestopped because of increased presence of cattle leach in the lake. He was quite sure that the Forest Department was neglecting the maintenance and upkeep of the lake to make the lease arrangement desirable to the general public. (It is working since Kiran was
touting this very reason as the advantage of a corporate takeover).
The earnings from the lake come to round Rs. 10 lakhs/ year which was more than what was anticipated when the cleaning operation of the lake was first undertaken.
According to Srinivasan, the FD can very well undertake the mechanical cleaning up operation of the lake by spending a fraction of the money generated by the park. He is a person who has written a letter to the Chief Secretary six months back asking for a revocation
in the decision to lease out the lake. On asking what was the follow up being done he seemed a bit hassled. He said he did not see it as a battle that can be won. A court PIL was not considered as the judges are corrupt. He said the only way to revoke the decision now is to
bring in a major pubic unrest. On being asked if he would he would call in the necessary people, maybe get together the voluntary group who cleaned up the lake and lay the base for a public agitation he replied that can be arranged. But there was a certain amount of
conviction lacking in his reply. The most evident concern was the loss of public ownership over the land which was interestingly the point raised by Kiran also once his infatuation with corporate efficiency was past. Mr. Srinivasan felt more strongly about the conversion of public premises to the benefit of a single corporate body and was genuine in his desire to do something to prevent it. He had plans of developing the lake and its beautification (electric lighting along the lake bund and convert Hebbal Lake to Bangalore's equivalent of Marine Drive). But a conviction that it is a losing battle is also making him search for ways of compromise. A half formed suggestion that came out was the possibility of the hotel management letting in morning walkers and giving concessions to birdwatchers. Kiran also was found searching for options such as Oberoi letting in birdwatchers. Both of them did not have any marked concern for the
fishing community
