Hyderabad Lakes & Parks

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Laxman, Ashwini to save our SOUL!

Former test cricketer VVS Laxman and World Badminton women’s doubles bronze medallist, Olympian Ashwini Ponnappa are joining hands with Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) to campaign along the Bon Cheruvu, also known as Hasmathpet Lake in Secunderabad.
The initiative aims at calling for follow-up action from the various governement departments on the recommendations made by former Ranga Reddy District Collector Seshadri to save the said lake from pollution, drainage and encroachment.
The effort seeks to draw attention to violation of laws by the many residential constructions that are taking place within the prohibited limits/radius of water bodies.
A message in support of the walk, sent by Dr RK Pachauri, who as Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US President Al Gore, will be read out at a media conference post the walk. A message sent by Dr PM Bhargava, Padma Bhushan and one of the most distinguished scientists of the country, will also be read out. He was the former vice chairman of National Knowledge Mission and former and founder Director of CCMB, Hyderabad.
The walk will begin today at 2 pm in front of Nilgiris Super Market, located near Mansarovar Heights Phases I, II and III in Thirmulgherry.

[Gudavalli]

City NGO focuses on poor state of Banjara lake at CoP 11

Volunteers of SOUL highlight ‘decay and decomposition’ of Hamed Khan Kunta

“Think globally, act locally”, the popular environmental slogan was put into practice by volunteers of city-based NGO, Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL), when they utilised the forum provided by CoP 11of CBD here to highlight the “decay and decomposition” of Hamed Khan Kunta, locally known as Banjara lake.

A note found among the sheaf of papers and publications from various organisations drew the attention of the delegates to the poor state of the lake, ironically, “the only one to be adopted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in Andhra Pradesh under its National Lake Conservation Programme”.

‘LAKE DYING’

The note says the lake was “dying” owing to “neglect and sabotage” by the very regulatory authorities that are mandated to “rejuvenate and rehabilitate” the water body in the heart of the city that was once the pride of local communities and Fisheries Department. It points out that 70 per cent of total funds for a project for rejuvenation of this lake was sanctioned by the Union Environment Ministry and spent by AP Tourism Department. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the abutting five-star hotel have been dumping debris and waste on the banks shrinking the area.

Sewerage flows into the lake making it a stagnant pool generating a stench. SOUL claims Rs. 2 crore was spent on creating a ‘structure’ and laying of a drainage pipe that do not function. A contractor was permitted to construct a concrete platform on the lake bed choking the lake. It ends by appealing to delegates to visit the site and see the ground reality.

[Gudavalli]

Walk to save lakes

With cities bursting at the seams due to increasing population, people are reconciled to dwelling in all kinds of places, even lake beds if it can bring down their living expenses. Therefore, lakes in the city are shrinking by the day due to encroachments.

Apart from this, many lakes in the city are polluted, as people dump wastes, garbage etc in the lakes. The situation with regard to lakes in the city is palpable.

Ace cricketer VVS Laxman, along with shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa, undertook a walk beside the Bon Cheruvu (Hasmathpet Lake), Secunderabad, on Tuesday.

Laxman said, “In the course of my nearly two-decade-long cricket career I have noticed two distressing disappearances arising from excessive construction activity: lakes, which are getting filled up, and open spaces -- playing fields. While the first threatens our very existence in a country so dependent on rainfall, the latter deprives children of good health derived from playing outdoor sports.

It is perhaps due to this acute shortage of playing areas that children are getting addicted to play stations, computers and internet, making them mouse potatoes, if not couch potatoes,” Laxman added.

The initiative was taken by Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL). The aim of the walk was to protect the water body from further encroachment and inflow of sewage from the surrounding localities.

Local residents in large numbers, carrying placards, joined the walk from one side of the lake to the other. The people congregated on the lake shore, where slogans were raised condemning the apathy of government bodies and wanton destruction by builders.

‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds—Save Bon Cheruvu,’ seemed the most apt slogan, considering the water body had at one time provided livelihood to a large number of fisher folk. Extending support to the cause led by SOUL and resident welfare associations (RWA) were two distinguished scientists, Dr R K Pachauri and Dr P M Bhargava.

“Hyderabad is known for its lakes and they are depleting by the day. People are selfish and are destroying lakes. We should be aware of the situation,” says Ashwini Ponnappa.

Ashwini Ponnappa read out a message from Dr Pachauri, who is the Chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and who shared the 2007 Nobel Prize with Al Gore, former US Vice President. Former Vice Chairman, National Knowledge Commission Dr Bhargava’s message was read out by social activist Chandana Chakrabarti.

“To ensure adequate water supply in future, the above unscientific and unsocial (even illegal) practices must be stopped and lakes like the Hasmathpet Lake, must be adequately protected. Genuine public interest must take precedence over illegal and unethical gratification of the greed of a few.

If government cannot do even this, one may justifiably ask, what it is for,” observed Dr Bhargava. Dr Pachauri’s message observed, “It is sad that wetlands in and around our cities are diminishing from their normal size & spread, and depletion as well as pollution of water are adding to this. It would be sad for this society to urbanise in a manner which is destroying the environment and our natural resources.”

“The issue is not one of water availability, but that of systematic destruction of water bodies by vested interests. Ninety per cent of existing water resources are misused by 10 % comprising the privileged few creating artificial scarcities,” said Jasveen Jairath, founding convenor of SOUL.

[Gudavalli]

Adoption, beautification of lakes on cards

The sixth meeting of the Lake Protection Committee (LPC) was held on Thursday under the aegis of Neerabh Kumar Prasad, Metropolitan Commissioner, HMDA, and chairman of LPC.

The LPC chairman suggested that for protection of lakes it was necessary to fix the FTL (full tank level) boundaries through GPS and take up total station survey with lat-long for superimposing the FTL locations on revenue maps with survey numbers. Further, the fixing of the FTL boundary and the construction of the RCC pillars should be done simultaneously, he suggested.

The LPC chairman suggested fencing for protecting of lakes, with access if there are shikam pattas. It was important to identify landfills, considering construction material is being dumped in lakes. A suggestion was made to identify abandoned quarry sites which could be used for this purpose.

MT Krishna Babu, Commissioner, GHMC, made a suggestion that it might be a good idea to establish a call centre to meet the demand-supply requirements for debris disposal.

Neerabh Kumar Prasad, chairman of LPC, informed members that there were a number of enquiries regarding adoption and beautification of lakes. It was agreed that the request could be considered duly and guidelines prepared for protection of lakes keeping in view maintenance of inflow and outflow channels.

Among others who attended the meeting were Vani Prasad, Ranga Reddy District Collector, M Ravi Chandra, Member Secretary, APPCB, Tarun Joshi, Deputy Commissioner, Central Zone, Hyderabad, Sunil Kumar Gupta, Member Environment, HMDA, M J Akbar, OSD, BPP, HMDA, Vivek Deshmukh, Chief Engineer/Environment Expert, HMDA.

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JICA asked to keep tabs on Hussainsagar clean-up

HYDERABAD: Save Our Urban Lakes (Soul), a city-based NGO, has urged the representatives of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to ensure that the Hussainsagar Lake Catchment Area Improvement Project being undertaken by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is implemented as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

Jasveen Jairath, the founder-convener of Soul, social activists M Mandal and OM Debara met JICA programme specialist Emi Doyale and senior project officer Monika Ranjan who are in the city to review the lake clean-up project which is being funded by the cooperation agency. The activists told the JICA representatives that the clean-up was being carried out in violation of Supreme Court directions.

Jairath said that HMDA had taken up construction of an 130 MLD sewage treatment plant inside the full tank level of Hussainsagar. They said that the treatment plant was cutting into the lake, as a result of which the lake area would shrink further. No permission has been obtained by HMDA from Supreme Court for construction of such plants, the activists said.

The members of the NGO informed the JICA representatives of the dumping that had been taking place in order to lay a drainage pipeline (I&D structures) with mud getting deposited in the lake area. Similarly, ecological parks at Khairtabad flyover and another opposite KIMS hospital were taken up by filling the lake area which was also in violation of Supreme Court orders, they said.

[Gudavalli]

[Gudavalli]

Nasr School adopts tiger cub at zoo

The Director, Principal, Headmistress and students of Nasr School made a visit to Nehru Zoological Park on Friday and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to the authorities and adopted a tiger cub.

Nasr Boys School had earlier celebrated the first week of 1-8 October as ‘Tiger Festival’ in the school which included various activities concerning tiger conservation.

The Nehru zoological Park, management expressed their appreciation and keen interest shown by the student community and the school management is adopting the tiger cub in the zoo. The same school had adopted tiger last year as well.

[Gudavalli]

Vulture breeding programme going on well at zoo

Dr Vibhu Prakash, a well-known ornithologist from the Vulture Breeding Centre in Pinjore, Haryana, along with P Mallikarjuna Rao, Addl PCCF/ Director of Zoological Parks, AP, and Rajeev Mathew, member of the AP State Biodiversity Board, visited the Nehru Zoological Park on Thursday.

He expressed his satisfaction at the facilities at the vulture breeding centre and suggested that the diet being given to vultures be increased by 2 kg, considering the breeding season from November-March.

He also advised the authorities to increase the size of breeding and nesting platforms and perches.

[Gudavalli]

Choking the Hussain Sagar

While tall promises are being made on a daily basis at the ongoing CoP-11, the ground reality is that the Hussain Sagar lake is being killed slowly by waterfront encroachments and mounds of garbage.

Hussain Sagar’s road to recovery is shrouded in irony. While tall promises are being churned out by the hour at the ongoing CoP-11, growing number of commercial establishments around the lake stand in blatant defiance of the WALTA Act. More is being said than done, say environmentalists, while authorities assure that the lake is on the road to a speedy recovery.

In its Water Bodies Protection clause, the WALTA Act clearly states that no permanent structure ought to be built in or around a lake, pond, or any water body declared as a heritage body or under conservation status. But the reality is often different. For over seven years, a number of commercial establishments have been flourishing successfully on the fringes of the lake. The presence of eateries and amusement parks around the Hussain Sagar is an example.

But when approached by Postnoon, these establishments have surprisingly innocent answers. “Jalavihar is in no way a permanent structure. It is a temporary structure that can be dismantled at any time. Furthermore, we have our own STP and sewage lines laid in accordance with the sewage board’s guidelines,” says Shashi, manager of Jalavihar. Kalicharan, manager of Waterfront, too has the same answer.

Environmentalists and civil society groups, however, cannot believe the irony. “The lake is a hotspot for tourism. The Supreme Court had laid down various guidelines in 2001 to protect the lake from encroachments. But surprisingly, no local administrative body is clear about whose responsibility this lake actually is. Moreover, after the Hussain Sagar is cleaned up by the JAICA project, they wish to put it to recreational use. The only solution to this is that there should be one local authority or agency that should be responsible for the lake,” says Major Shiva Kiran, an environmentalist.

The Pollution Control Board occasionally comes out with disturbing statistics about the pollution levels, but nothing is done, say environmentalists.The latest case of government-authorised encroachments is the GHMC’s plan to build a garbage yard truck parking spot opposite the Sanjeeviah park — in close vicinity of the lake.

While Chandana Khan, principal secretary to the AP State Tourism Board, refused to comment on this issue, officials from the HMDA informed Postnoon that a major awareness campaign is in the offing to pursue this matter.

“Constant surveys and reports are being made with the help of the Lake Protection Committee that is working with the GHMC to save the lake from encroachments,” said Vivek Deshmukh, chief engineer and expert on environment, HMDA.

The fact of the matter remains that the once sizeable area of the lake has shrunk gradually, while authorities have overlooked this matter, as it involved fortunes in terms of revenue. The original size of the lake stood at 1,600 acres and later in 1995, when the National Remote Sensing Agency had surveyed the area, it had been reduced to 416 acres. In 2000, another survey by the then existing HUDA placed its size at 549 acres. What will become of the lake in future, is anybody’s guess.

[Gudavalli]

image hosted on flickr

DSC_8741 by anilbollina, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

DSC_8654 by anilbollina, on Flickr

[Gudavalli]

Expert hails crowd management in city zoo

Gerald Dick, Executive Director of World Association of Zoos and Aquarium (Switzerland), visited the Nehru Zoological Park on Wednesday. He was shown an orientation film on the zoo at Bio-Scope auditorium and taken to various sections in the zoo park, like Jurassic park , Carnivore corner , mega herbivore section, bear section, ungulates section , reptile section and nocturnal animal house.

He appreciated the efforts made by Nehru Zoological Park in spreading awareness among the public and also for displaying animals in natural surroundings.

He saw the stream of visitors to the zoo park and appreciated the zoo management for its crowd control capability. He also visited the in-house vet hospital and interacted with the officials there.

[Gudavalli]

CoP delegates hail zoo

P C Tyagi, Senior Faculty, Wildlife Institute Of India , Dehradun, visited Nehru Zoological park, Hyderabad as a part of his visit to Hyderabad in connection with COP-11 summit, similarly T V N Rao, Member Secretary, West Bengal also visited the zoo on Friday. They were accompanied by Karhon Hendich from Australia. They were received at Nehru Zoological par by Director and Curator of Nehru Zoological Park.

The visitors were taken round to various sections of the zoo. The visitors were very much impressed and were highly appreciative of the maintenance and upkeep of the zoo. P C Tyagi suggested of increased planting within the enclosure to increase density of vegetation and to install splinkers to keep the enclosures are green throughout the year.

Sri Karhon Hendich suggested to acquire a good incubator which will help in improved hatching of eggs laid by different birds at zoo park. He promised to provide specifications of the incubator being used by him in Australia and to facilitate procuring a good incubator in zoo park.

[Gudavalli]

‘Winged visitors’ grace GHMC park in Hyderabad

A variety of colourful butterflies make the one-acre patch of land their home

The expansive Sanjeevaiah Park has hordes of visitors — love birds, feathered birds, gawking boys and vendors, all right. But, what has been attracting swarms of butterflies is a small garden on the opposite side.

An amazing variety of butterflies have made their home in the near one-acre patch of land cleared out by the GHMC in the last one month or so for its butterfly garden. The site, which was hitherto occupied by garbage and used for cleaning the sweeping machines, has been transformed and how.

Quick work

It now has a colourful range of shrubs, creepers and trees with flowers and dancing on them incessantly in their brilliant hues are the butterflies with each variety sticking to a particular plant or flower of their choice!

“We just cleared the area and put the plant-specific butterflies and in 15 days the butterflies started coming,” says a delighted North Zone Commissioner S. Harikrishna.

He saw such a garden in a resort in Kerala, trawled the Internet for information on plants, confabulated with his horticulture staff and began working on the garden two- and-a-half months ago.

“Our horticulture staff also visited the zoo park which has a similar facility. But, even I was amazed at how quickly our garden attracted the butterflies,” he laughs.

Numbers growing

“The butterflies started as soon the flowering began. We have counted 20-25 varieties of butterflies and expect the count to touch 40,” says C.V. Bhagyalakshmi, Assistant Director, Horticulture wing.

The municipal corporation has not yet publicised the park and hence did not put up a board. It is still mulling the options of regulating the entry lest it disturbs the butterflies and to protect the flowering plants too.

[Gudavalli]

Public to be roped in to protect Hussainsagar

Membership open to all individuals

In its attempts to involve public in the cleaning up activities of Hussainsagar lake, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) on Monday launched ‘Forum for a Clean Hussainsagar’. The forum is aimed at fostering a sense of belonging towards the historic lake among public in the capital.

Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority Commissioner Neerabh Kumar Prasad told presspersons on Monday that the engineering works related to cleaning up of the lake would be over in another six to nine months. “We can construct as many treatment plants, drains and nalas as we like but we can’t conserve the lake unless we involve the public. We need to make people of Hyderabad identify with the lake,” Mr. Neerabh observed.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority has taken up Hussainsagar Lake and Catchment Area Improvement Project (HCIP) with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Five elements

The project has five elements. They are treatment of inflows, improvement in quality of lake water, protection of lakes and nalas in catchment areas, public awareness and stakeholder participation, shoreline cleaning and removal of floating material.

According to Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority Commissioner, after the HCIP project, an Independent Monitoring Agency (IMA) would be roped in to track the water quality.

“The Pollution Control Board (PCB) also will play a big role in checking quality of the lake water. We have to learn to preserve the lake after the Hussainsagar Lake and Catchment Area Improvement Project project is complete. For that to happen there is a need for us to involve the citizens,” he said.

Speaking on the measures needed to protect water bodies in and around Hyderabad, Mr. Neerabh said that the authorities have identified 500 lakes under HMDA and 130 lakes under GHMC for conservation.

Officials from HMDA, irrigation, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and revenue departments will visit the identified lakes and soon launch preservation activities.

The activities include demarcation of Full Tank Levels (FTL), boundary wall construction, marking the FTL levels with pillars, fencing and removal of encroachments within the FTL.

“The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has already roped in a third party to execute these activities and we are in the process of finalising an agency. Action will be taken on the encroachments according to the rules,” Mr. Neerabh cautioned.

Dredging

The dredging activity at Hussainsagar lake, which was halted due to the international conference on biodiversity, will start from this month. “The dredging activity of Kukatapally nala will start from November. The hazardous waste taken out will be chemically treated. Then Pollution Control Board will conduct tests to separate the hazardous and the non-hazardous wastes,” he said.

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Encroachers sent packing from Bhageerathi lake

HYDERABAD: Revenue officials inspected the Bhageerathi lake in Khajaguda on Monday and razed the illegal structure which was coming up here. Reacting to a report published in this newspaper on Monday on the encroachment on the lake by land grabbers and it being used as a dump yard, the Serilingampally and Rajendranagar revenue officials visited the site on Monday morning and pulled down the structure. Officials noticed that a local resident had built a compound wall inside the 'patta' land of the lake which should have been used only for agriculture purpose.

The demolition work was undertaken by two revenue division officials since 10% of the encroached land falls under the Serilingampally revenue division and the remaining 90% under the Rajendranagar revenue division. The day long exercise ended towards evening after almost 3 acres of encroached land was freed of structures.

Speaking on this, B Rajesh, Tehsildar, Serilingampally mandal said, "We had observed encroachment in survey no. 451 in Khajaguda village which is a patta land. A compound wall was built recently and we demolished it. It is a patta land and should only be used for agriculture." The officials also said that appropriate action will be taken against the encroachers.

Mukund Reddy, tehsildar, Rajendranagar said, "We have investigated and warned people who were encroaching on the lake. Apart from that we will also serve them a notice asking for an explanation and based on the reply we will take action."

This prompt action by the revenue officials has pleasantly surprised environmentalists fighting for conservation of lakes. Rajkumar Thakur, environmentalist who had first raised this issue said, "Usually, we have to struggle to convince the revenue officials to take action against any lake encroachment. However, this has been an exception and we hope that in the future also officials work in the same manner."

[World8115]

Aquarium and Natural History Museum reopen at Zoo

Kids observing fish at the aquarium on Monday

After a short hiatus, the Fish aquarium and the Natural History Museum have reopened at the Nehru Zoological Park.The Natural History Museum has been refurbished and expanded, covering 1,300 sq ft space. The animal models are more than 50 years old. The newly placed Gorilla structure and ‘Human life from the past to present’ is attracting crowds.

The aquarium was thrown open on November 3. The aquarium contains bigger tanks and extra space. Overall there are 18 tanks. A senior official at the zoo said that with the new look visitors at the zoo will be benefitted to a great extent, especially school children who have in the past requested the authorities to include more models.

Land sharks after Hasmathpet Lake

Once bandied about as the ‘City of Lakes’ with more than 500 water bodies, Hyderabad is losing some of its precious lakes to the avarice of land sharks. The latest victim of this kind of gobbling is Hasmathpet Lake, also known as Boini Cheruvu, in Balanagar mandal. The lake spread, according to the latest inspection by the Ranga Reddy Collectorate, has shrunk. Its present extent is far less than what was recorded previously.

Social activists point out that, although the officials have come out with some figures to suggest encroachment, the actual extent of encroachment is “much more than what the Collectorate found out.”
The lake, located mainly in Balanagar area of the Ranga Reddy district, also extends over Trimulgherry mandal of Hyderabad district.

According to records, its area is 67.18 acres, though it was found during recent inspection that, at Full Tank Level, the size of the lake has decreased to 67.07 acre. Many function halls and residential apartments have sprung up on the lake bed.

A function hall has been built on the northern side of the lake by filling it with debris of sand. Jayalaxmi Gardens, the function hall, is in possession of most of the encroached areas of the lake. Following a couple of function halls, a few apartments are being built on the lake bed.

The weir of the lake has been broken by land sharks at many places and the lake expanse is being filled up with a view to begin construction activity. The surplus weir too has been tampered with so much so that water is being drained out below one foot of FTL. All this has been done to make things easy for encroachers.

Following consistent efforts by a few social organisations and in the light of an order from the AP High Court, the Irrigation Department has demarcated the lake. When contacted, Special Deputy Collector, Land Protection, Prabhakar Reddy said that officials of Irrigation Department could explain the issue in a better manner, since they had done the demarcation.

Yesu Bhandari, executive engineer, irrigation department, said, “Demarkation was done in 2005-06 earlier. There are encroachments definitely, but the FTL area would remain same.” The Revenue Department is responsible for removing encroachments and initiating legal action against the encroachers.

Revenue officials were not available for comments. Nobody was forthcoming on why no action has been taken against the encroachers till date.

[Gudavalli]

Forum to rope in public for protection of Hussain Sagar lake

To enlist public participation in bringing back the pristine glory of the picturesque Hussain Sagar lake in the Andhra Pradesh capital, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has launched a forum.

The 'Forum for a Clean Hussain Sagar' is a platform for concerned citizens to share, discuss, initiate and also execute programmes that will help clean the Hussain Sagar lake, HMDA officials said.

Spread across an area of around five kms, Hussain Sagar, the scenic lake in the heart of Hyderabad was built by Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali in 1562 during the rule of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah initially to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of the city.

Though it is an artificial lake, it holds water perennially.
Over the years, it has become a tourist spot and bears the identity of the city. A huge statue of Gautam Buddha was installed in the middle of the lake and several parks and scenic spots were developed making it a major tourist destination in the city.

However, the inflow of domestic sewage and industrial effluents have polluted the lake. Besides these, during the ten-day Ganesh festivity, thousands of idols are immersed in the lake. Consequently, the lake that was once the identity and pride of the city is now fighting for its existence.

The HMDA has taken up Hussain Sagar Lake and Catchment Area Improvement Project (HCIP) with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Although significant progress has been made under the JICA-assisted HCIP Project, there is still much to be done in terms of increasing awareness among the people and changing behaviour, the officials said.

"The objectives of the forum are to establish a 'people's movement' to clean and protect Hussain Sagar lake, to initiate and execute programmes that will prevent pollution of the lake and ultimately to change people's domestic and public sanitation habits," they said.

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Anyone from SSC part of this ??? Pls lemme know.

Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority plans to clean Hussainsagar in one year

HYDERABAD: The Hussainsagar can be cleaned in the next one year but not without the support and participation of people, said officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) on Saturday. The authorities also announced how it intends to clean up the historic lake.
In its first meeting, the 'Clean Hussainsagar' forum discussed plans to not just clean Hyderabad's largest water body of all pollutants but also to ensure that it is not 'infected' again in the future. Apart from government bodies, the forum, which already has over 300 members, will include representatives from civil society groups, industry bodies and other concerned citizens.
Though the clean Hussainsagar mission started in 2007 with assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), it unfortunately ran into roadblocks and delays. "This time however we intend to launch the campaign in letter and spirit," said Neerabh Kumar Prasad, commissioner of HMDA, who appealed to all participants to come forward and contribute in cleaning the water body. "Right from walkathons, runs, workshops and awareness drives, all initiatives are welcome," Prasad said.
On its part, the HMDA is believed to have commenced work by setting up sewerage treatment plants (STPs) to improve the quality of water flowing into the lake. It has also taken up the task of creating interceptions and diversions (IND structures) to ensure that the effluent-carrying canals (nalas) currently joining the Hussainsagar are disconnected from the water body.
"At present, the Hussainsagar loses anywhere between 30-35 million litres of water in way of seepage everyday. Our aim should be to plug that," said Vivek Deshmukh, chief engineer, HMDA. He added that of the three STPs being commissioned (of 30 MLD, 20 MLD and 5 MLD capacity), the 20 MLD plant will treat effluents to a tertiary level to make the water almost potable.
Other plans include setting up of eco-parks along the Hussainsagar and uplifting sanitary conditions in the 22 slums located in and around the lake. "Right now the oxygen levels in the water are so poor that the lake does not have any life. We hope to restore that," an official said.
While the suggestions and roadmap laid down by the government body was appreciated by the NGOs participating in the event, the members maintained that it was more important to nab the 'main culprits' behind the pollution of the water body before setting out to save it.
"City's large-scale industries are responsible for the death of the lake and unfortunately, many of them enjoy government support. Unless these people are brought to book for discharging toxic chemicals into the water body, Hussainsagar cannot be cleaned or protected," said Jasveen Jairath, founder convener of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL).
Civil society groups, along with organizations such as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) also pledged support to the cause taken up by HMDA in all possible ways.

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Hussainsagar dredging work initiated

Chief Minister also launches the ‘Clean Hussainsagar’ campaign
As part of a year-long initiative to get rid of pollutants from Hussain Sagar Lake, dredging work at the water body was initiated on Friday.

Sediments

The massive exercise launched by the Chief Minister, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, will help to scoop out sediments to the tune of 10 lakh cubic metre from the confluence points of four inlets of the lake.

The dredging of sediments at three inlets, Balkapur nala, Picket nala and Banjara nala, has started while the work on Kukaptally nala confluence point will be initiated at a later date since sediments here were found to be hazardous.

JICA

One of the major aspects of the Hussainsagar Lake and Catchment Area Improvement Project, the exercise would have the dredged out sediments dried and shifted to existing quarry pits at Jawaharnagar dump yard.

The lake, which has been polluted due to untreated sewage and industrial effluents generated in the catchment of 240 square km through the four inlets, is being restored with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the tune of Rs. 370 crore.

Apart from dredging work, the Chief Minister on Friday also launched the ‘Clean Hussainsagar’ campaign, commissioning of upgraded tertiary level 20 MLD STP at Khairatabad and the 1400 mm Balanagar sewer main.

Reuse of water

The STP has been upgraded to the tertiary level and according to HMDA officials, the treated water would be processed for ultra-filtration by membranes procured from Australia.

The water then gets disinfected of pathogenic bacteria to achieve a quality, which the officials described would be fit for reuse, for non-potable purposes.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, the Chief Minister called for a concerted effort involving all stakeholders to clean Hussainsagar Lake.

Efforts are on to clean and restore several other smaller water bodies in the city and tough action is in store for those taking up illegal constructions alongside them, he said.

In his address, Labour Minister D. Nagender said the HMDA should not remain mute in issues that threaten the lake and cautioned senior officials of action in case they failed to take steps needed to protect the water body.

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Hussainsagar water fit for ‘reuse’

After suffering the onslaught of pollution for decades that robbed its once pristine glory, rejuvenation seems to be a year away for Hussainsagar lake.

For the 450-year-old water body in the heart of the city, a series of Interception & Diversion (I&D) structures and Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) commissioned recently have come to help improve the quality of water that flows into it. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) which has taken up the project to clean the water body with Rs.370 crore JICA assistance, described the water treated from upgraded STP at Khairatabad now as being of ‘superior quality fit for reuse for non-potable purposes’.

The lake has four inlets, Banjara nala, Picket nala, Kukatpally nala and Balkapur nala, which together account for an average inflow of around 71.43 million litre per day (MLD). While Kukatpally nala on an average brings in around 29.06 MLD, around 20.39 MLD flows in from the Picket nala.

The existing STP at Khairatabad has been upgraded to tertiary level with biological nutrient removal process to address the issues of nitrates and phosphates and the treated water then undergoes ultra-filtration by membranes procured from Australia. According to HMDA officials, these membranes were being put to use for the first time in the country. “After the ultra-filtration, the water is disinfected of pathogenic bacteria which make the treated water discharged into the lake fit for reuse for non-potable purposes,” said an official. Setting up an additional RO Unit (reverse osmosis) could also enhance the quality to potable purposes, it was suggested.