HYDERABAD: While the State government continues to turn a blind eye to the illegal dumping of loose soil at the Khajaguda rock formations, the cost of this ecological damage cannot be assessed yet. However, it would be disastrous, believe activists.
According to ‘Save Khajaguda’ campaigners, what is presently visible is the loss of nearly 100 trees, the disappearance of several butterflies and peacocks. In the long term, the damage could be much higher and directly impact human lives around the rocks.
“The major impact of this landfilling and flattening of the natural contours of the rocks would be visible once monsoon sets in. Currently, the soil is being dumped in no scientific manner. How this would block the natural draining networks is unknown,” explained Dr Anant Maringanti of Hyderabad Urban Labs.
“There is a lake adjacent to the rock structure called the Khajaguda lake which may see adverse changes and even floods if this (dumping of soil near the rock formations) continues unchecked,” Anant pointed out.
Soil already dumped in 3 of 180 ‘protected’ acres
Currently, the areas which have been filled with loose soil are near what was known as the burger rocks and some natural cave formations from where water used to flow through. With these blocked, which pathway the waters would chart for itself remains unknown, raising concerns of inundation of low-lying areas in the foothills.
“We would have to see how the hill would react during the monsoons as lakes below, like most lakes, would have seen encroachment. When water doesn’t have its natural course to flow, it would inundate the lake and the vicinity,” opined Frauke Quader of the Society to Save Rocks.
Such destruction could lead to landslides, says expert Anant explained how similar activity in Bhojagutta near Gudimalkapur, where giant rock formations were disturbed and destroyed, led to a landslide that disrupted life in the area.
“In 2018, the rock formations in Bhojagutta just vanished and eventually, a landslide occurred which led to three trucks full of mud and debris entering into the cellar of an apartment complex. While no lives were lost, had it been a cluster of smaller homes, the damage would have been much more,” said Anant, fearing a similar fate in Khajaguda as the soils dumped here irresponsibly has no stabilising structures whatsoever risking many below.
‘Save Khajaguda’ campaigners estimate that nearly 3 acres of the 180 acres of the total land have been filled by way of this illegal dumping. The High Court had declared these 180 acres as protected land in 2019 and appointed HMDA as the custodian of the land.