Anand Malligavad

Anand Malligavad also known as "Lakeman of India," is an Indian water conservationist and environmentalist from Bengaluru. He is known for his contribution in the revitalization of 23 deteriorating lakes in Bengaluru.

Early life
He was born in 1981 in the Koppal district of Karnataka. In 2017 he started doing social work of lake conservation with the Sansera Foundation, alongside B. Muthuraman, to initiate the restoration project for Kyalasanahalli Lake near Anekal.

In 2019, he founded Malligavad Foundation and left his engineering profession to the cause of water conservation. He was awarded by the Community Service Award by the Rotary Foundation.

Controversies
As of April 2024, he and his foundation have been accused of causing “injury to works of irrigation or wrongfully diverting water” under Section 430 of the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority Act, 2014.

In March 2024, the Farmers Association at Heelalige, a village in Bangalore Urban district, sent a complaint to the Chief Minister of Karnataka, alleging the unscientific rejuvenation process undertaken by him to revive the water body at Heelalige. This process was claimed to have impacted the ability of lake to impound rainwater from its catchment area, depleting the groundwater table completely and creating severe water shortages. An unapproved ring bund was created around the lake to block all the water coming to the lake, resulting in the lake being unable to hold rainwater from the catchment area. Based on this complaint, the Karnataka Chief Minister's office conducted an inquiry and found many flaws in the unauthorized development work. Srinivas, the Chief Officer from Chandapura Town Municipal Council, registered an FIR charging him and his Foundation under The Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority Act, sections 430 (Mischief by injury to works of irrigation or by wrongfully diverting water) and 447 (trespass) for further investigation.

In a local newspaper Times of India, addressing this issue, Malligavad admitted to creating a bund to divert water from the catchment area. However, he denied the assertion made in the complaint that proper permissions were not sought for this action. Furthermore, he accused the new Karnataka Government of having ties with builders and local businessmen and acting upon their interests but he did not elaborate on how these interests could have influenced the rift between him and the farmers. All these have raised serious questions on his rejuvenation techniques.