Lakes of Bendakaluru

Satellite view: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics

Bidarahalli Kere

Kere, a large tank, in Bidarahalli village, Bengaluru East taluk

See it on the map
Size
61.6 acresAbout 35 football pitches
Rank by size
137th largestOf 1,621 lakes that still exist
Valley
Hebbal
Who looks after it
BBMPBruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike
Water quality
Not tested for water quality yet
Built over
0.5% of the lakeSatellite, 2021. The 2018 survey found 2% encroached.

Through the years

Nothing on record for 1921 to 1926, 1928 to 1954, 1956 to 1977 and 1979 to 1983.

The records listed below, drawn on one line from 1920 to 2026.

  1. 1920

    Built

    As the 2018 lake survey records it

    See source

  2. 1927

    On the survey map

    See source

  3. 1955

    On the U.S. Army map

    Compiled from Survey of India maps of 1945-46

    See source

  4. 1978

    On the survey map

    See source

  5. 1984-2021

    Held water most years

    Water in 13% of all satellite passes, 1984-2024

    34% of its water area has since gone dry; 9% is new water

    4 years not counted: the satellite saw under half the lake

    Floating weed looks like dry land to this record, so a weed-covered year can read as dry

    See sourceSee source

  6. 1986

    Listed among green belt tanks by the Lakshman Rau committee

    Printed as Bidarahalli Tank, tank 392

    36.4 ha, as printed in the 1986 report

    Among the tanks between Bellary Road and Madras Road, Hoskote taluk

    See source

  7. 2017-2018

    In the water bodies census, not marked as encroached

    This census's status marks are often wrong

    See source

  8. 2017-2025

    No one cover holds over half of it in most years

    About three in four of these readings are right, so trust what holds for several years

    See source

  9. 2018

    Still there in the 2018 lake survey

    2% encroached, clean, 96.7 acres surveyed

    See source

  10. 2025-2026

    Part dry or built, part open water after the monsoon; mostly dry or built in the dry season

    After monsoon, Oct 2025 to Dec 2025

    • 37% open water
    • 21% floating weed
    • 42% dry or built

    Dry season, Mar 2026 to May 2026

    • 19% open water
    • 0.4% floating weed
    • 80% dry or built
    See source

How big it is

The records disagree on its size, so each measure is shown.

Drawn outline
61.6 acres

About 35 football pitches

See source
2018 lake survey
96.7 acres

About 55 football pitches

See source
End to end
1.2 km

The longest straight line across the outline

See source
Deepest point, 2018
3 m
See source
Kind of lake
Kere, a large tank
See source

How clean the water is

State pollution board
Not tested by the state board
How it looked in 2018
Clean
See source
What pollutes it, 2018

Agriculture & road runoff

See source

How much is built over

Built inside the outline
0.5%

From satellite land cover, 2021

See source
Encroached area, 2017
6.52 acres

Reported by the state legislature’s committee on lake encroachment

See source
Encroached by

Farmers

See source
Taken for

Agriculture

See source
Where it is encroached

On the north-east side

See source
Dumped in it

Garbage, agriculture waste & construction debris

See source
Other problems noted

Soil excavation

See source
Land within 500 m

38% crops, 28% built, 14% shrubs, 9% grass, 9% trees, 2% bare ground

From satellite land cover, 2021

See source

Who looks after it

Looked after by
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike

BBMP

See source

Where its water comes from and goes

Valley
Hebbal

The river basin its water drains to

See source
Water comes from
See source
Overflows into

Yellamallappashetti Kere

See source
Catchment
14.4 km²

The land that drains into it

See source
Fed by, 2018 survey

Rainfall

See source
Built parts, 2018 survey

9 inlet drains, 1 overflow weir, no sluice gates and no culverts

See source
Used for, 2018 survey

Irrigation

See source

What lives here

Birds recorded
20 species

Most seen: Black Kite, Red-wattled Lapwing, Common Kingfisher, Spot-billed duck and Asian Openbill.

23 sightings, mostly from birdwatchers

See source
All wildlife recorded
20 species

23 records, all in 2024

See source
Animals seen, 2018 survey

Birds, Bt.fy and dragonflies

See source
Water plants, 2018 survey

Submerged

See source
Weed cover, 2018 survey

Partial

See source

Around it

Around it in 2018

Agriculture, layout, plantation, brick factory & Byappanahalli kere

See source

Photos

No photos of it on Wikimedia Commons yet.

Where it is

Greater Bengaluru
Outside the city limits
See source
Village
Bidarahalli

Bidarahalli hobli, Bengaluru East taluk, Bengaluru Urban district

See source
Land survey numbers

21 (Byappanahalli), 8 (Bidarahalli)

See source
Height above sea level
881 m
See source
Coordinates

13.0653° N, 77.7237° E

See source

Read more

OpenStreetMap
See source
Its number in each record
ATREE lake map
73
2018 lake survey
BUBEBDbdr_kr1-802
Lake Development Authority
LDA054
KGIS tank map
691
Water bodies census
1/12/002/000005/000016/001