Rampant encroachments, mismanagement: Lakes in Hyderabad dying a slow death

Nearby residents and green activists believe the such state of affairs will only speed up the death of the lake as more encroachments are likely to spring up. “It was emptied in 2019 and its inflow was diverted. The works need to be completed soon because this lake is the main source of recharging the groundwater for the entire Malkajgiri area and water flows into Safilguda lake and then Bandlacheruvu lake,” said BT Srinivasan, a nearby resident and general secretary of United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations.

When contacted, a senior GHMC official said that the works were delayed due to the pandemic as well as the non-availability of lands that were encroached. “There is a market yard (Rythu Bazar) that has come up on the diversional sewerage. Due to this, work could not be taken up and the contractor has backed out. About 60 per cent of the works are completed and once the ongoing activities are over, we will hand over the lake to Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) for taking up the rest of the works,” he told indianexpress.com, on condition of anonymity.

With broken weirs, lake cannot store water

Hasmathpet lake or Bon lake, also among the 20 lakes chosen for the pilot project in 2018, is now brimming with rainwater but has its surplus weir left broken for years. “This is the largest buffer lake of Secunderabad. As part of the works taken up in 2019, the inlet channel was separated to prevent polluted waters including sewerage from entering it. Let the rains stop and in five days there would be only 10 per cent of water remaining. That’s not the purpose of a lake, right?” asked BV Subba Rao, an environment expert.

Hasmathpet lake has its surplus weir left broken for years. (Express photo by Rahul Pisharody)

The slums near Hasmathpet lake were flooded in 2020 and 2021 after water hyacinth from the lake blocked the lake’s outlet channel. The water joins Hussainsagar lake and flows into the Musi river. Some residents are happy that water hyacinth has been removed and the surplus weir is left broken so that it does not cause inundation of localities downstream. “This is an unscientific way of flood management. By cutting and leaving the weir, you are not regulating the water but emptying the lake. Less water attracts further encroachments on the upside,” said Subba Rao.

Stressing that low-lying areas of Hyderabad have been witnessing frequent urban flooding only in the last three to four years, Rao blamed the irrigation department for the mismanagement. According to him, water regulating structures that were traditionally used for irrigation by farmers are available in almost all lakes and these can be today used for flood regulation if they are modernised and enabled to be remotely operated. “In the name of restoration of lakes, their water storage capacity has shrunk by 30 per cent. It is not just RK lake or Hasmathpet lake but all lakes in Greater Hyderabad face the same fate. Lakes need to be redesigned and it is not the job of irrigation engineers,” he alleged.

Responding, the GHMC official said the works being undertaken are focused on flood mitigation mechanisms. “In Hasmathpet, we are going to provide a sluice gate on the weir for flood regulation and store the water. Such gates have been set up in 22 lakes and they are working. We have proposed the construction of sluices in 126 more lakes. Thus we will have covered 150 lakes so that we will allow water to flow only when maximum flood water is received and rest of the season water remains stored,” the official added. As per GHMC’s current figures, there are 185 lakes in Greater Hyderabad.

‘Dewatering lakes to promote encroachments’

Gurram Balaswamy, the convenor of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL), refuted this official claim and said there are records available of the existence of over 600 lakes in the jurisdiction of the GHMC and over 2,000 lakes in the HMDA limits. “In each of these lakes, the surplus weirs have been destroyed by authorities in connivance with local elected representatives by taking advantage of the public’s fear of flooding. So instead of letting only the surplus water flow out, they are allowing all the water to flow ultimately into river Musi. This is aimed only at encroaching the peripheries of the lake,” Balaswamy alleged.

The corporation, in one of its more recent initiatives, has now allowed individuals, corporate organisations, and NGOs to adopt lakes for beautification and maintenance. Under corporate social responsibility (CSR), 25 lakes have been adopted to date. The GHMC has big plans on paper to repair and rework sluice gates, diversion of sewerage, strengthen bunds, plantation and landscaping, apart from adding amenities such as seats, dustbins and toilets.

“All these works are in progress and would be completed in their due course,” the GHMC official added.

SOUL on Tuesday morning staged a protest demonstration in this regard at Yellamma lake in Kukatpally. “The lake was originally spread across 41.11 acres and is only 17 acres now. Some years later, the lake will vanish if we continue to leave the weir broken. We have given several complaints to the Collector, MRO, and GHMC engineers, but in vain,” he added. The protestors named lakes such as Ambeer, Rangadamani, Parki, Maisamma, Kamuni, Patel, Gangaram and Pedda, all located around Kukatpally, Miyapur, and Serilingampally stretch, to be in the same plight.