NALGONDA: The lake located on the premises of Chaya Someshwara temple in Panagal of Nalgonda town has turned into a temporary swimming pool with adults and children using it to take a dip to get rid of the scorching heat.
With a large number of people using the lake, it has become contaminated and could also lead to water-borne diseases. However, the authorities concerned have neither initiated any action plan to clean it up nor are they preventing people from entering it.
About five years ago, district collector Mukuteshwar Rao had taken interest to renovate the temple and allocated funds for the same. Telangana Heritage, formerly known as Archaelogical Department, identified the lake and had renovated it. Later, the officials concerned with Krishna Pushkaram filled the lake with Udaya Samudram water and readied it for Pushkaram ghats.
However, the filling up of the lake continued long after the Puskaram and all devotees who came to the temple for a darshan started taking a dip in it. On the other hand, as the summer started setting in, most of the locals from in and around the place turned it into a swimming pool.
One can see children as well as elders learning how to swim. No precautionary measures have been put in place to avoid any untoward incidents, leading to contamination of water. Officials have been continuously filling up the lake with water upto five feet and it is being misused by the visitors.
A number of devotees have been urging officials to stop people from using it as a swimming pool but to no avail.