The Army will be deployed in Bhopal albeit for a cause with a difference! The men in olive green will join the war against water crisis in the Madhya Pradesh capital by taking part in desilting of the almost-dry Upper Lake launched by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan earlier this month.

Several political leaders, Government officials, students, NCC cadets and civilians alike joined hands to deepen Bhopal''s lifeline whose catchment area is 361 sq km but is now reduced to a patch courtesy meagre rains.

Lieutenant-General AS Lamba, Ati Vishist Seva Medal the General Officer Commanding, Sudarshan Chakra Corps said in a release that the Army had decided to join efforts to desilt the Lake (Bada Talab) and Bairagarh Lake for two consecutive weeks with specialised vehicles.

With the objective of reinforcing efforts by local residents, jawans would offer 14,000 man hours at each site under the ''Apna Sarovar, Apni Dharohar; Bada Taal Suraksha Abhiyaan'' programme with highly-trained Army engineers and machinery. Lt-Gen Lamba would visit the site on Friday with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation Commissioner and other bureaucrats.

''Operation Jal Sahayta'' would get underway in two phases in which the Army would concentrate first on the Upper Lake and later shift to Bairagarh Lake, he added. The Upper Lake faced such water shortage in recent years that a car race was organised in the mud and devotees visited the shrine on the lone island in the lake on foot.

Legend says that the Paramar dynasty''s Raja Bhoj during his tenure in Malwa (1005-1055) built the Upper Lake. Bhopal derived its name from the lake ''Bhoj ka taal'' that was later changed to Bhopal. It was the main attraction for invading Pathans to set up their camps and later assert power after dethroning then Gond queen Kamla Rani.

The Kamla Park, which divides the Upper and Lower lakes, was named after the queen. Constructing an earthen dam across the Kolans river created the lake. A 11-gate dam was constructed at Bhadbhada in 1965 at the lake''s southeast corner and now controls outflow to the Kaliasote river. The Upper Lake, with an area of 31 sq km, is on the eastern side of Bhopal and is surrounded by Van Vihar National Park on the south, human settlements on the east and north and agriculture fields on the west.