HYDERABAD: The State government seems to have accepted defeat and left the historic 18th century Bum-Rukn-ud-Dowla Lake near Shivrampally at the mercy of those who have encroached it. Work on the conservation of the lake could not be taken up even though an in-situ treatment plan for the lake’s contaminated water was prepared by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and work orders were issued last year.
Recently, the Irrigation Department submitted a report regarding the protection and remediation of the lake with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). It has cited dwellings located inside the Full Tank Level (FTL) of the lake as one of the reasons as to why the lake couldn’t be completely fenced and a remediation plan for improving the quality of the lake’s water proposed by NEERI couldn’t be implemented. Another reason being cited is the existence of private lands beside the FTL of the lake.
The Irrigation Department wrote to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in June 2020 saying that the plan developed by the NEERI for the lake requires a 300-metre-long channel to be constructed outside the lake’s FTL, requiring the State government to acquire those lands. Then the Irrigation Department asked the GHMC to contact the Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) asking it to divert the sewage flowing into it from two neighbouring residential areas, Raghavendra Colony and King’s Colony.
While the lake continues to be polluted with sewage, the GHMC managed to remove water hyacinth that covered the lake, as per the report. The Irrigation Department submitted the report as directed by the NGT, in a petition filed by Dr Lubna Sarwath, a well-known lake-protection activist from Hyderabad.
MANY REPORTS AND PLANS BUT LITTLE ACTION TAKEN
The 18th century lake near Shivrampally is under threat and no action is being taken to protect the precious water body despite work orders issued last year to protect it from contamination