HYDERABAD: Hussainsagar was filled with tens of thousands of Ganesh idols as part of the festivities, reveals a report by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) released on Saturday.
According to the report, the lake’s water quality went from bad to worse during the festivities, before improving slightly after the rains.
A few water quality parameters of the lake showed an improvement, thanks to heavy rains diluting the contaminated lake water with fresh water.
The TSPCB tested water samples collected from six locations before, during and after the festival. According to its report, during the festival, various water quality parameters of the lake went downhill.
For example, the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), which is the amount of dissolved oxygen required in a water body to break down organic material, peaked at 62 mg/L, at one of the platforms opposite NTR Garden.
According to the standards set by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the BOD should not go beyond 3mg/L. However, even before the Ganesh festival, the BOD of the lake at this point was 45mg/L. After the festival, it came down to 25mg/L, due to the rains.
The Dissolved Oxygen (DO), which is the amount of oxygen available in the water to sustain aquatic life, decreased to as low as 1.4mg/L in the centre of Hussainsagar during the festivities.
As per the CPCB standards, the DO level in water at any time should be above 3mg/L to sustain life. However, thanks to the rains, the DO levels improved at most locations.
The report also shows that at all the six sites, the presence of coliforms, which are bacteria and fecal coliforms (the bacteria originating from feces) also increased drastically during and after Ganesh festivities.