HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) Commissioner AV Ranganath stated on Tuesday that 61% of the city’s tanks have already disappeared, and it is crucial to protect the remaining 39% to prevent a future where no tanks are visible in the city within 15 years.
He was speaking at a conference on urban pond management, organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR - NEERI) at Tourist Bhavan, Begumpet.
Ranganath highlighted that Hyderabad experiences severe traffic jams due to damage to the chain pond system, leading to road inundation even with just two centimeters of rainfall. He pointed out that urbanisation is rapidly increasing in Telangana, which has 12% higher urbanisation than the national average. Experts predict that Telangana’s urbanisation, currently at 47%, will reach 75% by 2050.
“In such a scenario, protecting natural resources is everyone’s responsibility to ensure a better environment and quality of life for future generations,” Ranganath emphasised. He also noted that some lakes have been encroached upon as land values rise amid urbanisation and growing demand for plots.