Hyderabad: With soaring temperatures in the city, a thick layer of green algae bloom has spread over Hussainsagar, especially near Sanjeevaiah Park, PV Ghat and few parts along Tank Bund which is a bio-indicator of increase of pollution.
This has resulted in discharge in large quantities of noxious gases from the lake, leading to visitors and nearby residents complaining of the stink. An evening out on Necklace Road or Tank Bund is now a stinky, possibly harmful, affair.
The foul smell is due to algal boom in the lake. Due to the rising temperatures, there is a rapid increase of algal growth and floating materials, garbage, chemicals, sewage and industrial effluents adding to the pollution.
Environmentalists questioned the spending of '370 crore on cleaning of the lake by the HMDA, with financial assistance from the Japan International Co-operation Agency as little has been achieved to justify it.
Mr Rajeev Mathew, expert member, Telan-gana Biodiversity Board, said, “It is because of the sunlight. The water is a very rich soup of nutrients and algae feed on it, assisted by the sunlight. As they multiply they mat up and the lower layers don’t get enough sunlight and die.”
He said the decay causes a strain on the biological oxygen demand in the lake and this lack of oxygen causes stress on fish, especially those that live by breathing through the gills.
A senior official from Pollution Control Board said. “Soaring temperature and less oxygen levels in the lake are the few reasons leading to the spread of this thick algae layer in a few parts of the lake”.
An official from HMDA said, “This is common phenomena in summers and this year it’s already 40ºC. For the next three months we will have to face this situation. We have already deployed machinery and our people are engaged round the clock in the lake for this purpose”.
Doctors suggested avoiding visiting polluted places, specially people who have breathing issues as it can trigger asthma attacks.
Dr N. Nalini, a senior consultant pulmonologist, said, “The stench can trigger asthma attacks. It is not advisable for people with breathing problems to visit such places. They can only visit places with clear lakes or treated water”.
