Beeramguda Lake

Beeramguda Lake is located in Patancheru and is covered under the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Lake Protection Committee.

Currently, the lake distends to about 60 acres. It was once used for agricultural purposes and fishing. The lake replenished ground water. It used to attract migratory birds in winter.

The lake is fed with rain water from hilly areas and is embedded with a rocky belt underneath. It is for this reason that the lake never becomes dry, not even in summer. There is a small, old dam, which was constructed to store water in reserve for irrigation purpose for near about 1,000 acres. Now the dam can only serve 100 acres.

History

According to locals, the Beeramguda Lake and its surrounding areas were popularly known as Esuka Bavilu (sand wells with high water springs), which were sites for agricultural activity. Adjacent to the lake is the Beeramgutta temple, which is more than 100 years old, and is popularly known as Lord Mallikarjuana Swamy or Shiva temple. It is considered to be the second Srisailam. People believe that the temple here has been existing since the 13th century. The people are of the belief that the temple was established due to the effort of two sages named Bhoga Maharshi and Brugu Maharshi. Devotees can find the Shiva Linga when they travel through an inner route of the temple. The people believe that the inner route leads to Srisailam. There was a four feet tall statue of Lord Veera Bhadra earlier, due to which the temple was called as Veerappa or Beerappa. Only recently the place has come to be known as Beeramguda and the lake located near the temple as Beeramguda Lake. The temple attained great significance during the reign of Kakatiyas. During Shivaratri, grand celebrations are held for about five days.

Problems

B Satyanarayana, a resident of the Bheeramguda, said, “During the last ten years, colonies and surrounding municipalities have been dumping garbage in to the lake. Efforts by companies like Coca-Cola and others, which have taken up the cleaning and fencing of the lake under the Corporate Social Responsibility, are going on at snail’s pace.”

Thakur Rajkumar Singh, member of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL), said, “The Full Tank Level (FTL) and buffer zone measurements and markings were not done by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the HMDA or the district collector, in spite of specific instructions and guidelines given to them by the respective governments and the High Court and Apex Court.”

SOUL members had also given notices and filed complaints to the concerned authorities from time to time in vain. The lake is getting polluted and encroachments are rampant.

However, he thanked the Telangana government for coming forward to fence the lakes and build walking tracks along lakes in the city and villages. “Subsequently handing over the lakes to the respective colony welfare association and to village heads for further maintenance is a welcoming plan of action,” he added.

He appealed to the government to implement the same as soon as possible and to call for tenders to take up works to prevent further encroachments.

Members of SOUL lauded the new policy of the Telangana government for saving lakes under the new programme of ‘Mana Vuuru Mana Cheruvu’, introduced by irrigation minister T Harish Rao.