GLOBE in hand and mission in mind, Dr. Jack Vallentyne of the Canada Centre for Inland Waters was rather surprised when he visited Bangalore last year. The beautiful lakes for which this city was known, no longer remained beautiful. An though he spent a large part of his stay visiting lakes and educating people about the benefits of recycling, he realized that another visit would be necessary in order to talk to people about the eco-system.

Next month, Vallentyne will be part of a team speaking at the Symposium on the Restoration of Lakes and Wetlands in Bangalore. The aim of this symposium is to bring together scientists, students and NGOs for future research needs for the conservation of wetlands and lakes.

Dr. TV Ramachandra, of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, has been instrumental in organising this symposium. "We have been working on the subject of lakes and wetlands in the city since 1997 and have discussed the changes and necessity of monitoring them," explains Ramachandra. He adds that the Centre has scientific data about what technology is to be adopted for this purpose. "The aim of this symposium is to facilitate an interaction between scientists and policy-makers who can tell us is this technology is feasible," he adds.

According to studies conducted by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, the most widespread problems facing lakes in Bangalore are sewage from domestic sector, effluents from industries and agricultural residues of silt and pesticides. "Lakes have therefore become sinks for incoming contaminants that impair conditions. Failure to restore these ecosystems will result in sharply increased environmental costs later, in the extinction of species or ecosystem types, and in permanent ecological damage."

According to statistics from the Karnataka State Pollution Control Boards there are 30 water tanks in the city. Dr. B Shivalingaiah, who is a board member at this symposium, says, "The restoration of lakes is becoming important as they help control factors like humidity, temperature and recharging of underground water. Lakes in Bangalore especially have to be protected from human activities. This seminar will hopefully change things," he says.

Says Ramachandra, "By restoration we mean returning an ecosystem to a close approximation of its condition prior to disturbance. This ensures that the ecosystem structure and function are recreated or restored, and that natural dynamic ecosystem processes operate effectively again by correcting pollution problems."

This symposium will enable planners, scientists, administrators, NGOs and even students to discuss the aspects in the management of wetlands. Topics include restoration methodologies and conservation strategies and remedial measures among others. This will enable better understanding of water and land resource development programmes and monitoring their performance for sustainable development.

Ramachandra adds that the symposium, which will be open to the public from November 27 to 29, will also invite students to present papers.

"And as an incentive, the best paper will be awarded Rs.2,000." Key speakers include Dr Jack Vallentyne, Dr Lars Bengston, Department of Water Resource Engineering, Lund University, Sweden, Dr Ralph Daley Director, UNU, International Network on Water, Environment and Health, Dr Timo Huttula, Finnish Environmental Institute, Finland, Dr Bhaskar Rao, STEM, Bangalore and others.