People lament as Hyderabad lakes are dying

As it happens with most government initiatives, officials of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have been turning a blind eye to encroachments of lakes across the city.

It may be recalled that Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authorities (HMDA) had constituted the ‘Lake Protection Committee’ in February 2015 identifying 168 water bodies in the GHMC limits, but there doesn’t seem to be any firm move towards removing encroachers by officials.

Incidents of illegally constructed function halls, commercial establishments and others within the Full Tank Area (FTL) of the lakes have been reported.

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Nagireddy Lake in Yapral, which is spread over 32 acres, has shrunk to 19.5 acres in the past two years according to a survey by the irrigation authorities. Residents claim that despite making several representations to the Irrigation Minister and Mayor nothing has been done

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Besides this, encroachers have also taken on the city nalas; as a result flood water has been entering into houses in residential colonies.

For instance, Nagireddy Lake in Yapral, which is spread over 32 acres, has shrunk to only 19.5 acres in the past two years according to a recent survey conducted by the irrigation authorities.

The residents in the area claim that despite making several representations to Irrigation Minister, T Harish Rao and Mayor, Bonthu Rammohan they are yet to find a solution for it.

B Yaddi Reddy, a resident of Yapral said that the Irrigation Department had sanctioned Rs 2.2 crore for the lake development in 2014 under 'Mission Kakatiya'.

He alleged that the lake protection authorities hand in glove with local leaders swindled the funds and there has been hardly any development for 16 months now.

Reddy informed that during the recent GHMC's demolition drive the authorities identified the encroachments and demolished them, but they were re-erected immediately.

Concurring with him, P Narasimha, another resident said that GHMC, Irrigation Department and Revenue Authorities have been passing the buck. He said that the residents are fighting hard and moving pillar to post to protect the lake for the past two years.

“The lake, which once served the drinking water needs of the residents, is encroached and dying at a rapid pace,” he said and added that the groundwater levels in the area are also depleting alarmingly.

“What was once 1,200ft is now only 60ft,” he says.

A Subhashini, a 35-year-old house wife residing near the lake said that the nala, which was meant to carry excess flood water from the lake, has been encroached and its width has decreased from 18ft to a mere 3ft.

When asked on the subject, lake protection authorities said that they have already marked the FTL levels of Nagireddy Lake and assured that all encroachments would be removed within a month.