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Lakes Become Cesspools
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | June 20, 2008 | 819 views
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Before it became a Hitec city, Hyderabad was famously known as the city of lakes. There are over 532 water bodies in and around the state capital with Hussainsagar Lake being the most prominent one.
However, rapid urbanisation in the past few decades has all but destroyed the water bodies in the city. The unending discharge of domestic and industrial effluents and sewerage has turned the once-pristine lakes into cesspools. All this has also caused widespread ecological degeneration.
Also, encroachments into the lakes became rampant as demand for land increased with the spurt in population growth. Experts say many famous lakes in the city are in a state of ‘eutrophication,’ caused by increase in chemicals.
The bacteria and pathogens that enter the water along with sewage are contaminating the groundwater causing water-borne diseases. Because of this, lakhs of people living around these water bodies suffer from several maladies.
The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority has notified 169 lakes spread over 3,000 hectares, of which 87 are polluted. Of the 87 lakes, 11 are classified under category-1 that signals eutrophication while others are classified under category-2. But these lakes too may reach the danger zone if neglected.
Consider the Ramakrishnapuram (Mukkidi) cheruvu in Malkajgiri municipality, which has a water spread of 13.7 hectares now. The lakebed has been encroached upon and two inlets carry domestic sewage into the water leading to heavy pollution.
Without the encroachments, the lake’s water spread would have been 18.66 hectares.
This lake once used to be an irrigation source but urbanisation has led to development of middleclass housing colonies, altering the land use pattern.
Similarly, encroachments have drastically reduced the water spread of Sudulavani Kunta Lake in Kukatpally. From the earlier spread of 5.9 hectares, the lake area has now shrunk to 4.9 ha with encroachments on all sides except the northern side where a weir stands.
“New residential layouts are being developed in areas such as Kapra, Serlingampally, Rajendra Nagar and Kukatpally threatening the existence of water bodies.” Ecologists have been crying hoarse the degeneration of lakes, but government agencies have either ignored them or tried to palm off the blame.
After the flash floods of August 2000, the government spoke of restoring the water bodies but that promise remained unfulfilled. The present regime has also not shown much interest in restoring the lakes.
Authorities have always been hiding behind the excuse of ‘lack of funds,’ but with the Centre funding infrastructure projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), an attempt is finally being made to address the issue.
The Huda has now completed a survey and prepared a detailed project report for “restoration and rejuvenation” of 11 polluted lakes at a cost of Rs 71.45 crore.
In Danger
Alwal - Chinna Narayana Cheruvu
BHEL - Rayasamudram Cheruvu
Kukatpally - Amber Cheruvu, Sudulavani Kunta
Patancheru - Patan Cheruvu
Malkajgiri - Mukkidi Cheruvu
Miyapur - Gurunadham Cheruvu, Patel Cheruvu
Chandanagar - Pedda Cheruvu
Kapra - Kapra Cheruvu
Shivrampally - Noor Mohammad Kunta
Once the JNNURM funds are allotted, these lakes are expected to be rejuvenated.
Then Hyderabad can once again be called the city of lakes.
SOURCES:
Deccan Chronicle
Topics: Environment, Attractions, Govt Failures |
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