Bengaluru lake lights stay on till 9 p.m., driving birds away

While lakes such as Dorekere and Doddakalasandra are important night-time shelters for hundreds of birds, a change in the lighting schedule at these lakes has been disturbing roosting spaces, with Kere Mitras (residents who protect, maintain, and monitor the lake) pointing out that the extended artificial lighting, now kept on till 9 p.m., is disturbing birds that arrive at the lakes at dusk to roost. Bright lakeside spotlights blind and confuse them, causing birds to lose their way, they say.

Lights that were earlier switched off by 7 p.m. now stay on until 9 p.m., after the installation of the centrally-monitored lighting through CCMS smart meters at the lakes. Kere Mitras and NGOs working on lakes say applying the same timing to lakes ignores ecological function, particularly in the evening when large numbers of birds return to sleep.