Lakes of Bendakaluru

Satellite view: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics

Malgalu Lake

Kere, a large tank, in Pattegar Palya ward, Bengaluru West

See it on the map

Size

0.69 acresSmaller than a football pitch

Rank by size

1454th largestOf 1,621 lakes that still exist

Valley

Vrishabhavathi

Who looks after it

BBMPBruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike

Water quality

Not tested for water quality yet

Built over

6% of the lakeSatellite, 2021. The 2018 survey found 80% encroached.

Through the years

Nothing on record for 1894 to 1944 and 1946 to 1983.

No open water seen by satellite, 1984-2021

What covers it each year:waterbuilt on or bareplants or weed

1893

1945

1984

1893
Built
As the 2018 lake survey records it
See source
1945
On the survey map
See source
1984-2021
No open water seen in any year
The lake is small for this record, so treat it as rough
See source See source
2017-2025
Mostly built on or bare every year
About three in four of these readings are right, so trust what holds for several years
See source
2018
Still there in the 2018 lake survey
80% encroached, dry, 6.65 acres surveyed
Restored, year not recorded
See source
2024
On the state's list of Bengaluru lakes, looked after by BBMP
See source
2025-2026
Mostly dry or built after the monsoon and in the dry season
The lake is small for these images, so treat the shares as rough
After monsoon, Oct 2025 to Dec 2025
0% open water
25% floating weed
75% dry or built
Dry season, Mar 2026 to May 2026
0% open water
14% floating weed
86% dry or built
See source

How big it is

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

Drawn outline

0.69 acres

Smaller than a football pitch

2018 lake survey

6.65 acres

About 3.8 football pitches

End to end

157 m

The longest straight line across the outline

Deepest point, 2018

2 m

Kind of lake

Kere, a large tank

How clean the water is

State pollution board

Not tested by the state board

How it looked in 2018

Dry

What pollutes it, 2018

Road runoff

How much is built over

Built inside the outline

6%

From satellite land cover, 2021

Encroached area, 2017

5.85 acres

Reported by the state legislature’s committee on lake encroachment

Encroached by

Government agencies, the public, private owners and BBMP

Taken for

Road, houses, temple & park

Where it is encroached

On the north-east, south-east and south-west side

Other problems noted

As per RTC, land alloted to Housing Board in 1986

Land within 500 m

92% built, 4% shrubs, 4% trees, 0.7% crops

From satellite land cover, 2021

Who looks after it

Looked after by

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike

BBMP

Where its water comes from and goes

Valley

Vrishabhavathi

The river basin its water drains to

Overflows into

Vrishubhavathi river

Catchment

0 km²

The land that drains into it

Fed by, 2018 survey

Rain & drain fed

Built parts, 2018 survey

1 inlet drain, no overflow weirs, no sluice gates, 1 culvert, no check dams and no islands

Used for, 2018 survey

Aesthetic

What lives here

Animals seen, 2018 survey

Birds

Water plants, 2018 survey

Emergent

Weed cover, 2018 survey

Partial

Around it

Around it in 2018

Temple, settlement & drain

Photos

No photos of it on Wikimedia Commons yet.

Where it is

Ward 74

Pattegar Palya

ಪಟ್ಟೆಗಾರ್ ಪಾಳ್ಯ

Bengaluru West corporation, Govindraj Nagar assembly seat

Village

Malegulu

Yeshwanthpura hobli, Bengaluru North taluk, Bengaluru Urban district

Land survey numbers

46

Height above sea level

880 m

Coordinates

12.9782° N, 77.5280° E

Read more

Its number in each record

ATREE lake map: 491
2018 lake survey: BUBNYPmlg_kr1-170
KGIS tank map: 1323