Hyderabad: Living next to the hyacinth-covered Nallagandla Lake is very unhealthy for residents. Those living in the apartments around were promised a clean-up several times but nothing has ever been done to denude the lake of the water hyacinths and effluents choking it.
The Nallagandla Lake is located in Serilingampally mandal of Ranga Reddy district. It was formed by inflows from two other lakes, recall residents.
Once a freshwater lake and lifeline for many fishermen, it is no more so, choked as it is with sewage from nearby labour colonies and the rapid growth of the water hyacinth.
“This lake was once home to many birds, especially migratory birds. But since it became a cesspool there are no birds,” said Purandar Vittal, who lives in an apartment abutting the lake.
The Nallagandla Lake is one of the 18 lakes in and around Hyderabad chosen for the two-pronged drive under the lake upkeep plan announced by urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao recently.
At the time he had said that the clean-up would involve the removal of encroachments , de-siltation, diversion of sewage and other effluents, removal of the hyacinth and other harmful weeds and spraying of chemicals to prevent their re-growth. Not just the minister, even the former Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) commissioner Dana Kishore had announced that the civic body had acquired six floating garbage-removal machines and they would soon be deployed wherever needed and more would be bought later. It costs nothing to make these promises but residents of the area are now demanding that the clean-up of the lake be done as soon as poss-ible, so that they can live in a healthier environment.
