Hyderabad: The revival of the pond at Indira Park will soon be completed, making it possible for boating activities, which have been stalled for over a year, to be resumed. Over 18,000 metric tonnes of silt has been removed from the six-foot deep pond, at a cost of Rs 25 lakh. Other infrastructural features including the railing and flooring have also been repaired and renovated.
Speaking to this newspaper, Bonthu Rammohan, the Mayor of Hyderabad, said, “The desilting of the 4.6-acre pond began in June 2017. It took three months for the polluted water to be drained, the silt to be removed and the pond to be cleaned. The municipal body had to engage cranes, loaders, tippers, and lorries for the removal and transportation of silt. The silt has been dumped at Peerzadiguda, which is beyond Uppal. The labourers had to undertake two to three unloading trips every day. The pond has been refilled with treated water drawn from Snow World, which is located adjacent to the park, and rain water. Apart from the desilting work, renovation of the railing and flooring around the pond was also taken up. The old boats will be replaced with new ones which come with a built-in technology to remove waste from the surface of the pond.”
Indira Park, which is located at lower Tank Bund, occupies 76 acres of land and is one of the city’s oldest parks. In the early 1970s, the land that is currently occupied by the park was categorized as agricultural land under the Urban Land Ceiling Act.
However, it was later developed into a lush park. Walkers from Ashok Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Domalguda and other areas in lower Tank Bund have enjoyed the park for decades.
The park has over 2,000 different types of trees. It is also home to animals such as a star back, which is a threatened species, and an Indian soft-shell turtle called Pancake. While recently restoring the melta bavi, an old square well located within the park, the GHMC staff came upon nearly 50 hard-shell turtles that were between 30 to 40 years of age. Indira Park has four old wells in all, one of which has been closed with mud.
