HYDERABAD: The ambitious plan of GHMC to “beautify” Malka Cheruvu in Raidurgam with help from Aparna Infra Housing Private Limited, as part of Corporate Social Responsibility, has come to a naught as the High Court has stayed the lake beautification works following objection from residents of nearby Timber Lake Colony. The stay will be in force till July 10.
When contacted, GHMC zonal commissioner (west zone) D Hari Chandana said, “GHMC approved the proposal for development of Malka Cheruvu as well as Durgam Cheruvu under CSR. Work on laying a walking track and constructing boundary wall around the lake has begun. We also planned to set up a sewage treatment plant. But the residents of Timber Lake Colony approached the High Court and filed petition against the beautification works following which the court gave a stay order on the beautification works.”
The association of Timber Lake residents could not be contacted but officials of GHMC and HMWS&SB said that a senior Indian Police Service officer who is currently serving in AP and owns a house at Timber Lake, is spearheading the litigation against the beautification works. Lake protection activists allege that the real reason for a private real estate firm taking up CSR activities worth `2 crore for lake beautification, which has been ignored for decades, is because the ‘beautification’ work will, in future, make it easy to widen a connecting road, which passes through close to the lake, to 100 feet. This, in turn, will benefit the realtor in increasing the number of floors in its buildings to be constructed as part of a residential project over a piece of land located close to the lake.
However, residents of Chitrapuri Colony are in complete support of the lake beautification project. A resident of the Colony, V Nagesh, said, “At night, the area around the lake turns into a den of anti-social elements. If GHMC is allowed to beautify the lake’s surroundings, it will become a safe recreation spot.”
Drain was diverted into lake last year
Last year, as part of the beautification project, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply an Sewerage Board had diverted a drain carrying sewage into the lake from nearby areas to downstream of Malka Cheruvu. The main aim of beautification work is to protect the lake from encroachments and pollution