In recent years, there has been concern over the continuous degradation of wetlands due to unplanned developmental activities (Ramachandra, 2002). Urban wetlands are seriously threatened by encroachment of drainage through landfilling, pollution (due to discharge of domestic and industrial effluents, solid wastes dumping), hydrological alterations (water withdrawal and inflow changes), and over-exploitation of their natural resources. This results in loss of biodiversity of the wetland and loss of goods and services provided by wetlands (Ramachandra, 2009). The mitigation of frequent floods and the associated loss of human life and properties entail the restoration of interconnectivity among wetlands, restoration of wetlands (removal of encroachments), conservation and sustainable management of wetlands (Ramachandra et al., 2012).
Despite good environmental legislations, loss of ecologically sensitive wetlands is due to the uncoordinated pattern of urban growth happening in Bangalore. Principal reason is lack of good governance and decentralized administration evident from lack of coordination among many Para-state agencies, which has led to unsustainable use of the land and other resources. Failure to deal with water as a finite resource is leading to the unnecessary destruction of lakes and marshes that provide us with water. This failure in turn is threatening all options for the survival and security of plants, animals, humans, etc. There is an urgent need for:

• Restoring and conserving the actual source of water - the water cycle and the natural ecosystems that support it - are the basis for sustainable water management
• Reducing the environmental degradation that is preventing us from reaching goals of good public health, food security, and better livelihoods world-wide
• Improving the human quality of life that can be achieved in ways while maintaining and enhancing environmental quality
• Reducing greenhouse gases to avoid the deleterious effects of climate change is an integral part of protecting freshwater resources and ecosystems.
• Maintaining intergeneration Equity

A comprehensive approach to water resource management is needed to address the myriad water quality problems that exist today from non-point and point sources as well as from catchment degradation. Watershed-based planning and resource management is a strategy for more effective protection and restoration of aquatic ecosystems and for protection of human health. The watershed approach emphasizes all aspects of water quality, including chemical water quality (e.g., toxins and conventional pollutants), physical water quality (e.g., temperature, flow, and circulation), habitat quality (e.g., stream channel morphology, substrate composition, riparian zone characteristics, catchment land cover), and biological health and biodiversity (e.g., species abundance, diversity, and range).  The suggestions to implement in lakes in order to maintain its healthy ecosystem include:

• Good governance (too many para-state agencies and lack of co-ordination) - Single agency with the statutory and financial autonomy to be the custodian of natural resources (ownership, regular maintenance) and action against polluters (encroachers as well as those let untreated sewage and effluents, dumping of solid wastes).
• De-congest Bangalore: Growth in Bangalore has surpassed the threshold evident from stress on supportive capacity (insufficient water, clean air and water, electricity, traffic bottlenecks, etc.) and assimilative capacity (polluted water and sediments in water bodies, enhanced GHG – Greenhouse gases, etc.). No new projects shall be sanctioned and the emphasis would be on increasing green cover and restoration of lakes.
• Disband BDA – creation of Bangalore Development Agency has given impetus to inefficient governance evident from Bangalore, the garden city turning into ‘dead city’ during the functional life of BDA.
• Digitation of land records (especially common lands – lakes, open spaces, parks, etc.) and availability of this geo-referenced data with query option  (Spatial Decision Support System) to public.
• Comprehensive development plan (CDP) for the city has to be developed through consultative process involving all stakeholders and should not be outsourced to outside agencies / consultants (from other countries).
• Removal of encroachment near to lakes after the survey based on reliable cadastral maps;
• Remove all encroachments (without any mercy) of wetlands, lakes, rajjakaluves (storm water drain) – encroachers have violated all humanitarian norms and deprived large section of the society of ecological services (provided by wetlands)
• Effective judicial system for speedy disposal of  conflicts related to encroachment;
• Apply principles of ‘polluter pays’ principle to agencies responsible for contamination of Bangalore surface and ground water (Agency: BWSSB, industries);
• Action against regulatory agency (KSPCB) for dereliction of statutory duties and other  responsibilities by allowing sustained contamination of water, land and air;
• Decontaminate: Restriction of the entry of untreated sewage and industrial effluents into lakes; De-silt (to remove contaminants in sediments due to sustained inflow of pollutants - untreated sewage, and industrial effluents)
• To make land grabbing cognizable non-bailable offence;
• Decontaminate: Letting off only treated sewage into the lake through constructed wetlands and shallow algae ponds (as in Jakkur lake);
• Regular removal of macrophytes in the lakes;
• Decontaminate: Implementation of ‘polluter pays’ principle as per water act 1974;
• Plant native species of macrophytes in open spaces of lake catchment area;
• Decontaminate: Stop solid wastes (municipal and demolition debris) dumping into lakes; treatment and management of solid waste shall be as per MSW Rules 2000, GoI.
• Ensure proper fencing of lakes
• Restrictions on the diversion of lake for any other purposes - Lakes and wetlands provide ecological services (depending on the catchment integrity, duration may vary) – there are no dead lakes or wetlands
• Complete ban on construction activities in the valley zones;
• Monitoring of lakes  through network of schools and colleges;
• Mandatory environment education at all levels (schools and colleges including professional courses).

Wetlands in Bangalore are to be restored considering:

The restoration and conservation strategies has to be implemented for maintaining the ecological health of aquatic ecosystems, aquatic biodiversity in the region, inter-connectivity among lakes, preserve its physical integrity (shorelines, banks and bottom configurations) and water quality to support healthy riparian, aquatic and wetland ecosystems. The regular monitoring of waterbodies and public awareness will help in developing appropriate conservation and management strategies (Ramachandra, 2005).
Ecological and Environmental Implications:

• Land use change: Conversion of watershed area especially valley regions of the lake to paved surfaces would alter the hydrological regime.
• Loss of Drainage Network:Removal of drain (Rajakaluve) and reducing the width of the drain would flood the surrounding residential as the interconnectivities among lakes are lost and there are no mechanisms for the excessive storm water to drain and thus the water stagnates flooding in the surroundings.
• Alteration in landscape topography: This activity alters the integrity of the region affecting the lake catchment. This would also have serious implications on the storm water flow in the catchment.
• The dumping of construction waste along the lakebed  and lake has altered the natural topography thus rendering the storm water runoff to take a new course that might get into the existing residential areas. Such alteration of topography would not be geologically stable apart from causing soil erosion and lead to siltation in the lake.
• Loss of Shoreline: The loss of shoreline along the lakebed results in the habitat destruction for most of the shoreline birds that wade in this region. Some of the shoreline wading birds like the Stilts, Sandpipers; etc will be devoid of their habitat forcing them to move out such disturbed habitats. It was also apparent from the field investigations that with the illogical land filling and dumping taking place in the Bellandur lakebed, the shoreline are gobbled up by these activities.
• Loss of livelihood: Local people are dependent on the wetlands for fodder, fish etc. estimate shows that wetlands provide goods and services worth Rs 10500 per hectare per day (Ramachandra et al., 2005). Contamination of lake brings down goods and services value to Rs 20 per hectare per day.

Decision makers need to learn from the similar historical blunder of plundering ecosystems as in the case of Black Swan event (http://blackswanevents.org/?page_id=26) of evacuating half of the city in 10 years due to water scarcity, contaminated water, etc. or abandoning of FatehpurSikhri and fading out of AdilShahi’sBijapur, or ecological disaster at Easter Island or Vijayanagara empire
It is the responsibility of Bangalore citizens (to ensure intergeneration equity, sustenance of natural resources and to prevent human-made disasters such as floods, etc.) to stall the irrational conversion of land in the name of development  and restrict the decision makers taking the system (ecosystem including humans) for granted as in the case of wetlands by KIADB, BDA, BBMP and many such para-state agencies.