Lakes of the city: Osman Sagar Lake

Osman Sagar, popularly known as Gandipet Lake, is a beautiful lake located on the outskirts of Hyderabad west. . It has been an excellent picnic spot for locals and tourists and is also one of the two lakes on the city’s periphery that supplies drinking water to the metropolis.

History

History has it that Osman Sagar is an artificial lake of Hyderabad spread over 46 sq.km, and the reservoir is around 29sq.km. It was built in 1920 at a cost of Rs 54 lakh to meet the drinking water needs of the city. It was named after seventh Nizam ‘Mir Osman Ali Khan’, who intended it to check the Musi floods.

After the devastating floods of Musi in 1908, the Nizam invited prominent engineer and recipient of Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya to Hyderabad and got long-term plans prepared to check further floods, loss of life and property. Visvesvarayya was assisted by high-ranking official Nawab Ali Nawaj Jung in finalising the plans and designs. Nizam's chief engineer Ahmed Mirza supervised the construction of the reservoir, which still supplies drinking water to the city. Sagar Mahal is the historical building located on the banks providing the magnificent view of the Lake. It was used by the Nizam as his summer resort.

Features

Abutting the lake and the bund are lush gardens that provide the pleasing ambience for an outing. Sagar Mahal, built as a resort has been converted into a lake resort managed by the APTDC. The lake has been developed in a phased manner as a public recreational area with well-laid out lush green gardens and swimming pool. The added attractions nearby are the Treasure Island, Elless World and Ocean Park. Be it summer or winter, the place is always crowded with visitors in large numbers.

Throughout the year, Gandipet beckons holiday makers from every nook and corner of the twin cities. Anyone visiting Gandipet is pleased to see the vast stretch of placid water that shimmers golden in the morning sun. The breeze is cool and soothing and the ambience is serene. Sprawling lawns with colourful flora and youthful trees towards the lower side of the dam, make the place picturesque. The lake offers boating facilities to the visitors who look forward to a pleasant ride.

Political hues

The lake and the surroundings used to be the perfect weekend getaways and still is. But, after NTR constructed ‘Kuteeram, Gandipet has become synonymous with TDP and its annual meeting Mahanadu. Chandrababu Naidu is holding the party’s Mahanadu on May 27 and 28 at Gandipet.

The party has attached sentimental value to the campus as the founder president NT Rama Rao used to hold all programmes, including training classes for leaders, here because of the availability of all facilities.

Problems

Many constructions that have come up in the surrounding areas and in the lake beds have obstructed rain water flow into the reservoir, leading to less "Full Reservoir Levels" (FRL) and "Maximum Reservoir Levels" (MRL) as per the mandatory demarcated levels and boundaries.

To cater to this, a lake protection committee was formed by the HMDA in 2010 where it was decided to launch a special drive for protection of 21 lakes in the city, of which Osman Sagar, Himayath Sagar and Hussain Sagar were prioritised. But things are going in different way, existence of illegal causeways without the permission from any authority have been causing obstruction and even flooding villages adjacent to the lake.

Forum for Better Hyderabad and various other NGOs and forums have been working on saving the lakes. They urged in various forums and meetings that the vicinity of the lake has to be kept free from any construction activity so that the Bio Conservation Zone (BCZ) is maintained. But it is surprising to note nothing has been fixed till date and Osman Sagar is exposed to a grave risk of deterioration and the purpose of its construction is crushed.