The past one year has seen 17 people -- two in the last week alone -- commit suicide by throwing themselves into the still waters of the 400-year-old lake. Though exact figures are not available, between 15 to 20 such cases are reported every year.

The causes of suicides are expectedly varied: joblessness, diseases, unrequited love, childlessness, familial disputes, failure in examinations... the reasons are almost as many as the steps that turn despondence into something far more sinister.

A 42-year-old resident of the Bhatwada locality of Raopura, for instance, drowned herself in September 1997 over her childlessness. In April the year before, a woman 10 years her junior killed herself and her minor daughter, reportedly because she could not bear the son her in-laws wanted. Incurable diseases drove Chandanben Tamboli, 65, and Kamlaben Patni, 45, to the lake, never to return.

Batuk Kaka, who's been mending shoes and chappals by the side of the lake for the past 42 years, is witness to dozens of suicide cases and even a boat tragedy that claimed 45 lives five years ago. ``Unreturned love, financial problems, frustration in other sphere... all this bring them here'', he says.

A study of more than 30 suicide case spread over three years shows that the majority of the victims hail from the lower middle-class income groups and from the old city. ``They prefer this way of dying as it's painless but certain'', say police officials connected with their investigations.

Most of the suicides occur after midnight, when there are few people around, according to a study of police records. The Hanuman temple side of the lake which witnesses the most suicides, partly, according to police officials, because it's unfenced, and partly because of the religious aspect.

Interestingly, men far outnumber women in committing suicide; of the 17 cases this year, 14 were men.

Despite the lake's obvious attraction for those close to the brink, the authorities have no preventive measures in mind. Vadodara Deputy Municipal Commissioner H S Patel says it's impossible to fortify the lake or erect high iron grills around it.

Anant Desai, a descendant of Sureshwar Desai -- credited with funding the creation of the lake in the 16th century -- however, says he's terribly upset at the ``use'' of the lake. ``I am planning to file a suit to demand the lake back, since the Vadodara Municipal Corporation has failed to maintain it'', says Desai, who himself pulled down the magnificent Sureshwar Haveli near Mandvi to construct a multi-storeyed residential complex.