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Same water, different standard!
Same Water, Different Standard! HMDA and PCB at loggerheads over quality of Hussainsagar water.
HMDA and PCB at loggerheads over quality of Hussainsagar water
Water quality improved, says HMDA; It is still the same: PCB
EPTRI’s latest report substantiates HMDA’s claim
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Has the water quality of Hussainsagar improved? Looks like there is no clear answer to this as two government agencies have given conflicting reports. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) says that their HCIP (Hussainsagar Catchment Improvement Plan) project yielded positive results and the water quality has improved.
On the contrary, the reports from the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) state that the water quality hasn’t improved. In this context the current reports by EPTRI (Environmental Protection Training and Research Institute) that the water quality has improved considerably, added fuel to the ongoing war.
The HMDA started the ambitious HCIP project six years ago with a budget of Rs 370 crore. Since then works like dredging the lake, aeration, diversion of nalas and creating awareness, etc., have been undertaken by the civic body. It has been a regular affair ever since the works started that the PCB would collect samples and test them and send the reports to the HMDA.
The civic body, which felt the need to get the test done by another party as there weren’t any significant changes in the reports, hired the services of EPTRI. The scientists from EPTRI collected samples from seven different places of the lake on July 7 and submitted a report on July 31, which states that the quality of the water in the lake has improved considerably.
“We have observed a change in the attitude of the visitors to the Hussainsagar. Earlier we used to receive complaints about foul smell emanating from the lake. These have now decreased and there are more people going for boat rides on the lake. We wanted to have a third party check and have roped in EPTRI,” informed a senior official with Buddha Purnima Project Authority (BPPA), a subsidiary of HMDA, which oversees the HCIP works.
However, the PCB officials maintain that their reports stand true to the current state of affairs of the lake. Differences have cropped up between HMDA and PCB ever since the latter served notices to the civic body regarding the dumping of dredged wastes. However, sources inform that the civic body hasn’t come to a decision over which report to consider.
Contradicting reports
PCB reports say that BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) in a litre of water varies from a minimum of 150 to maximum of 300 mg. While the EPTRI report states that the minimum is 34 and the maximum is 130 mg at the most polluted Kukatpally nala. The admissible level off BOD is less than 3 mg.
Commenting on the variations in the PCB and EPTRI reports, a spokesperson of BPPA said, “PCB reports said that there is no Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in the lake. However, the EPTRI report states that at Banjara nala DO was 4.5 points and at Marriot and BPPA office it was 6.4 points.” This is not the first time that the reports of the PCB and EPTRI are contradictory. In the past, the same incident had happened in regard to the pollutants released by a few chemical industries in the city. Sources with PCB said that because of these contradicting reports, cases have been lying pending at the appellate authority.
Ban on immersions in Hussainsagar sought
An advocate of the city has moved the High Court seeking a ban on immersions in the Hussainsagar as it has been causing multiple problems, especially pollution of the lake and reducing the strength of the bund.
