What Does Saul Kere Have to Do With Your Daily Life?
Problems getting children to school.
Difficulty getting to work.
And sometimes, serious damage to homes and vehicles.
This isn't hypothetical.
In 2022, Saul Kere overflowed after heavy rain, inundating surrounding areas. Reporting identified its position in the drainage chain between upstream lakes and Bellandur Lake and highlighted concerns about its reduced water-holding capacity. (The Indian Express)
What about the people living around Saul Kere?
There are numerous residential communities in the surrounding Bellandur–Kaikondrahalli–Ambalipura–Sarjapur corridor, including:
Adarsh Palm Retreat
Adarsh Lakefront
KOTS Serein
Springfields
Brindavan Lake View Residency
Vajram Esteva
Purva Whitehall
Serenity Layout
Greenwood Regency
and many other apartment communities and villas.
These aren't just buildings on a map.
They are thousands of families who depend on the surrounding roads and drainage systems every day.
And there is already evidence of what flooding can mean for residents.
Greenwood Regency, a residential community close to Saul Kere and RMZ Ecospace, is home to around 2,000 people. During earlier flooding, its ground floor was flooded and vehicles were damaged. Residents have raised concerns about the drainage system and its connection to Saul Kere. (The Times of India)
So when we talk about protecting Saul Kere's flood-storage capacity, we're talking about protecting:
Homes.
Vehicles.
Access roads.
Basements and parking areas.
Utilities.
Emergency access.
People's daily lives.
What about schools and children?
The wider catchment also includes schools and early-learning centres serving families in Bellandur, Kaikondrahalli and the Sarjapur Road corridor.
For families, flooding isn't simply an inconvenience.
Imagine:
The school bus cannot get through.
Parents cannot reach the school.
Roads around the school are flooded.
Teachers and staff are delayed.
Emergency vehicles face additional congestion.
We do not claim that every school in the wider area will flood because of the STP.
But the principle is clear:
When surrounding roads and drainage systems are overwhelmed, schools and families are affected too.
And then there is the Outer Ring Road.
This is perhaps the most visible example of why Saul Kere matters beyond its immediate boundary.
In 2017, the area around Saul Kere received only about 2 mm of rainfall, yet the lake filled to the brim and overflowed onto the Outer Ring Road near RMZ Ecospace.
The road was severely waterlogged.
Two-wheelers had to be assisted to safety.
Employees at Ecospace were advised to work from home. (The News Minute)
The wider corridor has experienced repeated flooding since then.
In 2022, flooding affected residential communities and technology parks including Ecospace and Ecoworld, while the ORR and surrounding areas were inundated. (Newstrail)
Why does this matter to the people working there?
Because the Outer Ring Road isn't just another road.
It is one of Bengaluru's major employment corridors.
Around Saul Kere are:
RMZ Ecospace
RMZ Ecoworld
Embassy TechVillage
Vaishnavi Tech Park
Global Technology Park
and many other offices.
When this corridor floods, the consequences can include:
Hours of traffic congestion.
Stranded commuters.
Unsafe conditions for two-wheelers.
People unable to reach work or home.
Businesses losing working hours.
Emergency services facing delays.
The ORR has already experienced these consequences. (The News Minute)
So what does the proposed STP have to do with this?
This is the question we need to ask.
A large STP is proposed within the lake/wetland area.
Recent reporting says BWSSB is upgrading the existing 1 MLD STP to approximately 28–40 MLD, requiring about five acres of land within the wetland area. The same report notes that Saul Kere lies behind the Ecospace and Ecoworld technology parks and that the area has a history of severe flooding. (The Times of India)
The STP itself does not automatically mean flooding will increase.
But permanently occupying lake and wetland space can potentially reduce the space available to store stormwater.
That is why this needs to be independently modelled.
The government should tell citizens:
How much flood-storage capacity will be lost?
What happens during an extreme rainfall event?
What happens to the surrounding residential communities?
What happens to the ORR and technology corridor?
These aren't unreasonable questions.
They are basic questions about public safety.
And remember: Saul Kere receives water from a much larger system.
Saul Kere is connected to upstream lakes and ultimately drains towards Bellandur Lake. The Indian Express has described the chain as Kaikondrahalli → Saul Kere → Bellandur → Varthur. (The Indian Express)
So the question isn't simply:
“How much water does Saul Kere have today?”
The question is:
“How much water can the entire system send towards Saul Kere during extreme rainfall?”
And:
“How much space will remain available to hold it?”
This is why Saul Kere is everyone's issue.
You don't have to be a birdwatcher.
You don't have to live beside the lake.
You don't have to call yourself an environmentalist.
You simply need to:
Live here.
Send your children to school here.
Work here.
Drive on the ORR.
Own a home here.
Run a business here.
Use these roads every day.
Because when natural flood-storage capacity is reduced:
The water doesn't disappear.
It has to go somewhere.
And before permanently occupying Saul Kere, we need to answer one very simple question:
WHERE WILL THAT WATER GO?
🟢 THIS AFFECTS YOU. TAKE ACTION.
We need sewage treatment.
But we also need:
Safe homes.
Safe schools.
Safe roads.
A functioning technology corridor.
Flood protection.
A healthy lake.
We should not have to choose between them.
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