a new plan has been floated as a part of Bangalore's ongoing lake revival project. It envisages leasing out 23 lakes in Karnataka's capital to private and public agencies for maintenance and development. The success of the scheme depends on the interest evinced in the work by corporate houses as a part of their social responsibility.

The adopt-develop-operate-and-transfer process has been proposed by the city's Lake Development Authority (lda) for a period of 15 years. The lda is the autonomous body that has chalked out the resurrection strategy for the city's waterbodies. "(In the latest venture) the agencies can earn revenue by organising water sports, boating, etc, in the lakes, and making walkways and jogging tracks around them,' reveals A K Varma, lda's chief executive officer. He claims that developers are favourably disposed to executing the project, but laments the lukewarm reaction of the information technology sector.

The lda had earlier identified 60 lakes in and around the city for a four-stage restoration process, which is to be completed over the next four years (see: [2]