HYDERABAD: Katora Houz, a historic water tank at Golconda built by the Qutub Shahi rulers nearly 500 years ago, had turned into a filthy water body and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. After being neglected for the last few years, the water body has now gotten a new lease of life as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has taken up the restoration and beautification works of the lake.
Taking to Twitter, MA&UD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar on Wednesday shared ‘before’ and ‘after restoration’ pictures of the water body. He said that water hyacinths had been removed from the lake bed and cleaning work was in progress.
The restoration and beautification works took place after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), several local residential associations and Telangana Tourism Development Corporation urged the civic body to take up the restoration work over the years.
Speaking to Express, an ASI official said Katora Houz was a part of a historic monument and in the last decade, the condition of the water body had deteriorated drastically as people used the lake bed to dispose waste and dump garbage.
“As of now, the desilting and removal of water hyacinth work by GHMC is underway, and will take another 10-20 days to get completed. Further, to make sure that Katora Houz remains clean, we (ASI) are planning to hold a meeting with GHMC officials and the local MLA to cover the lake bed with fences, so as to make sure that people stop throwing waste into the water body. An action plan will be made for the same,” the official added.
The 16th-century water body, located a kilometre away from Golconda Fort, was constructed for water storage in those times. The lake is connected by underground channels to Durgam Cheruvu in Jubilee Hills, from where water used to flow into Katora Houz.