As climate risks grow, India's Bengaluru is trying to save its vanishing lakes

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Sunil Kumar rowed his small boat, moving a few feet at a time, while he spread a fishing net across the weeds floating like a green carpet on Doddajala Lake. The ends of the net were then carried ashore and tied to a tractor and an earthmover, which pulled the bundled plants toward laborers ready to drag them out with pitchforks.

Once each netful of weeds was scooped out, they repeated the process. Kumar, a fisherman who grew up nearby, and the others have been working 10 hours a day for two weeks to clean this water as part of a wider effort to restore polluted lakes that are in danger of disappearing around Bengaluru, India's fast-growing tech hub.

“Once the weed grows, all fish die. This is because the weed cuts out oxygen flow below the water and, of course, nothing can survive in the water after that,” he said.

City authorities and volunteers have cleaned and restored dozens of lakes in recent years, but much work remains. Bengaluru had more than 250 lakes in the 1970s. Today, roughly 180 remain and many are in a poor state. Water experts said the city’s explosive growth and mismanagement of sewage have severely damaged a centuries-old network of cascading lakes that sustained communities in this otherwise dry plateau.

Doddajala Lake, a 94-acre (38 hectares) body of water, sits along the city's northern outskirts near its airport in an area where multistory residential buildings, resorts and offices are interspersed with older mud-tiled houses and farmland. R. Byregowda, the head of the nearby Doddajala village, attributed the growth to the area's proximity to the airport.

“You can’t imagine the kind of changes in my village in just the last five years,” said Byregowda, who's been helping with the lake cleanup effort.

The lake cleaning is a joint effort by citizen groups focused on weed removal and local government officials who built a walking path with benches and planted trees with help from private donors.

Kumar, who has helped clean four other lakes, said rampant growth of weeds fed by nitrogen and phosphorous from sewage can be disastrous for the lake and its fish. Entangled in the weeds and on lake shores, the volunteers also encounter plastic bottles, clothes and other garbage.

“When I was a child, the water in the lake was clean and we used to swim in it, but now it’s mixed with sewage water,” Kumar said.

The lakes' health can have wide-ranging implications for a region facing weather extremes amid a warming climate. Experts and advocates say long-term planning is needed to ensure the lakes can defend against flooding by collecting excess rainwater and bolster the city's water supply by gradually releasing their contents into groundwater sources. The lakes can also keep surrounding areas cooler in the summer.

“Lakes can act as cooling zones during extreme heat events, and they can act as a flood buffer when there are extreme rainfall events,” said Shashank Palur, a Bengaluru-based hydrologist with the think tank Water, Environment, Land and Livelihood Labs.

The series of lakes and reservoirs were developed in the 16th century to support fishing, agriculture and domestic use in an otherwise dry region. The cascading system connected by water channels and stormwater drains conformed to natural valleys. Palur noted that the city has no major river running through its boundaries to feed it.

As the region urbanized in recent decades, many rain-fed lakes, which were dry in the summer months, were built over. Meanwhile, poorly built or maintained sewage pipes or new buildings without proper connections caused leaks that resulted in sewage water being swept into stormwater drains. When this reaches the lakes, it spurs algal blooms and invasive weeds.

A 2017 study by the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science, the latest such data available, found that 85% of Bengaluru’s water bodies are polluted.

Palur said city officials are often playing “catch-up” as newer homes and offices are occupied before sewer connections are installed, resulting in sewage being stored locally and then illegally dumped into lakes or stormwater drains.

“Sewer connections and water supply connections haven’t reached the entire city. So, lakes become polluted,” he said.

Volunteer groups have restored dozens of lakes, sometimes with help from city officials. The revival of suburban Jakkur lake, led by volunteers, received a national award in 2019.

“Wherever a lake has been saved in Bengaluru, it will be because a citizen group has fought for it,” said V. Ramprasad, co-founder of the volunteer group Friends of Lakes that has helped rejuvenate more than 20 water bodies. “We are the eyes and ears of that area.”

A 2012 court verdict had mandated government officials to lead lake restorations, but the ruling has been poorly implemented amid confusion from state agencies, said Bhargavi Rao, a researcher and environmental activist.

“Given that we live in a society that is already divided by caste, class, religion, language, various other identities, it is very important that these public commons are maintained by the local governments,” she said.

While the volunteer work has been important, advocates say government leadership is needed to ensure the lakes' long-term survival. Rao said individual efforts are well-meaning but might not be long-lasting.

Ramprasad said that it's important that restoration efforts go beyond cleanup and beautification. The efforts should prioritize harvesting rainwater to defend against floods and restore groundwater, aims that can require more resources and planning.

City officials said protecting lakes is a top priority, especially after a severe shortage of drinking water in 2024. Authorities said lakes can help replenish groundwater, allowing more water to be extracted during hot summer months.

“Conservation of these lakes is critical for the water needs of Bengaluru city, both underground water as well as for the ecosystem around the lakes,” said Ramprasath Manohar, chief of Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

Manohar said the state government has installed fences around 160 lakes and removed encroachments, among other steps.

Kumar, the fisherman helping with cleanup, said lakes can also help residents cope with heat.

“People sit in cars and switch on their AC nowadays, but then when you sit here by the lake, you don’t require any AC. It is so cool here,” he said.

Kumar said he’s happy to work as hard as needed to clean the lake.

“Once it’s fully clean, I can also get back to fishing here and more people will come to enjoy the lake,” he said.

Follow Sibi Arasu on X at @sibi123

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Fisherman Sunil Kumar, bottom, spreads a fishing net to help remove the weeds floating on Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A man does morning exercises at Jakkur Lake in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Women walk along the partly rejuvenated Bashettihalli Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A motorist on a two-wheeler struggles through weeds on the banks of Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Plastic bottles and trash lie in the waters of partly rejuvenated Bashettihalli Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Laborers use a boat to spread a rope across to help remove the weeds floating on Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A laborer sprays water to reveal a marking that reads 1895, the year a wall was built at Doddajala Lake, on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A laborer uses a bamboo pole to remove weeds from Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A laborer removes weeds from Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A man takes a morning walk at Jakkur Lake in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

An earthmover removes the weeds floating on Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Laborers use bamboo poles to remove weeds from Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A streak of water cuts through weeds covering much of Nagarakere Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Fisherman Sunil Kumar, bottom, spreads a fishing net to help remove the weeds floating on Doddajala Lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.

But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.

“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”

Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.

Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokesperson, called the ruling “a vindication of the rule of law.”

In a statement, she said the department will “work to enforce his lawful removal order” and encouraged Khalil to “self-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.”

It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.

In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil called the appeals ruling “deeply disappointing."

“The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability," he said. "I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”

Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts."

“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he said.

The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.

Khalil’s lawyers can request that the panel's decision be set aside and the matter reconsidered by a larger group of judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested last March. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child.

Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They also accused Khalil, 31, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.

The government justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.

In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.

President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.

Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said on social media Thursday that Khalil should remain free.

“Last year’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was more than just a chilling act of political repression, it was an attack on all of our constitutional rights,” Mamdani wrote on X. “Now, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free — and must remain free.”

Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level, even though his immigration case isn't complete.

Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.

The two-judge majority rejected Freeman's worry that their decision would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.

“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments," the judges wrote.

The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.

His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.

Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story.

FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)