Left high & dry, Bachupally lake falls prey to land sharks

Hyderabad: With the real estate boom in recent years in the area, the land sharks encroached upon Pedda Kunta (big lake), a water body known for its beauty. In recent years, the lake has given way to high-rises and residential complexes which have burgeoned all over the area. This began blurring the topography of the area, which once was abundant with natural landscape.

With the FTL fixed at 33.26 acres in 2014 and water spread area reduced to 5.8 acres, it is believed that the once massive water body has shrunk in size as most of the water channels in the years were cut off. The beautiful water body is home to birds of different species and aquatic animals and remains a place for recreation for locals.

The natural channels were allegedly diverted and the complaints made to the authorities fell in deaf ears over the past decade. Locals believe that the present FTL which was identified in 2014 is said to be less than the original size. Interestingly, those who can afford to buy flats in the high rise buildings continued to invest in the property in the buffer zone devoid of the trouble these ventures may be inviting in wake of ongoing HYDRA campaign.

The lake’s FTL and Buffer zone were notified in 2014, as the lake has been identified as one of the water bodies under HMDA as of critical importance. With lake ID 2821, it was prioritised with some other lakes for developing the foreshore areas as recreational zones. It remained significant over the years owing to reasons including recharging of groundwater to meet various issues, to serve as lung space for the large urban population, for maintaining ecological balance, and maintaining the unique character of the lake ecosystem of the region.