Pedda Cheruvu Medchal

Pedda Cheruvu Medchal
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Highlights

Pedda Cheruvu, located in Medchal, is listed with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority’s (HMDA) Lake Protection Committee. The lake was surveyed in 2013 and according to that report, the water spread area is about one and a half acre, full tank level area is 356 acres and its bund length is 1,200 metres.

Pedda Cheruvu, located in Medchal, is listed with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority’s (HMDA) Lake Protection Committee. The lake was surveyed in 2013 and according to that report, the water spread area is about one and a half acre, full tank level area is 356 acres and its bund length is 1,200 metres.

It is 30 km away from Secunderabad Railway Station and 45 km from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The lake was once used to provide water for agriculture and allied activities and was a source of drinking water. The lake attracted migratory birds in the winter.

Fish rearing ponds look deserted with no water in the tank

History

According to locals, this is the largest lake in the mandal consisting 18 villages including the Medchal village. Hence it is popularly known as Pedda Cheruvu. It is said that the lake has been in existence since the Nizam’s Era.

Fishermen derived their wherewithal from the lake as it housed different kinds of fish. Some forty years ago, fish rearing ponds were constructed. But they have been abandoned since two decades. This is due to two reasons: one, the depleting level of water in the lake; two, the inlets being blocked for the construction of the Outer Ring Road and for other government projects.

Problems

The lake is dried up due to scarcity of rainfall. It has assumed the look of a small kunta where water has been left to stagnate. The HMDA has adopted the lake area under an urban forestry scheme to maintain ecological balance. Ravi, a local fisherman, said that their community has lost livelihood as there is no water in the lake and hence no fish.

Pedda Cheruvu, Medchal village

“We are buying fish from elsewhere and selling them at the retail fish market adjacent to the lake. We appeal to the government to cover the lake under the Mission Kakatiya Project, (Mana Ooru Mana Cheruvu),” he added. Irrigation minister T Harish Rao recently said, “As part of Mission Kakatiya, all the lakes and tanks in the State would be revived and restored in a phased manner.

Presently 279 lakes have been identified, for which irrigation department has already issued orders for release Rs 123 crore to take up the required works by calling tenders. We are hopeful of implementing the same by the second week of January.” It is also learnt that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to meet Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharati during his visit to Delhi and invite her for the inauguration of Mission Kakatiya.

By:Ch Saibaba

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