Hyderabad: Concerned citizens came together on Sunday in Operation Gampa at Malkam Cheruvu Lake.
Hosted by the Timberlake and fishermen’s community in association with the NGO, Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL), the operation consisted of lifting mud from the Malkam Cheruvu which had accumulated when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation built a walkway around the lake.
Some 50 people, including residents of Timberlake, removed 300 gampas of mud before deciding to call in a JCB machine to do the work.
“There is a court order prohibiting any work in this area and yet the GHMC has continued their construction. This is not to build a walkway but to encroach on the lake. There is a new construction coming up on one side of the lake and eventually this will turn into a road,” said Suresh Prasad Reddy, the vice-president of the Timberlake community.
The fishing community also took part in the protest. The lake has been a source of livelihood for them until three years ago, when it became so polluted that fishing was impossible.
IPS officer, Anjana Sinha, who was at the protest, said she was against building a walkway around the lake as it would eventually lead to filling of the lake.
“The mud is being put over trash and construction material that the GHM has dumped. Through this move, they are ruining the lake's natural ability to replenish itself. This is a clear contempt of court. We do not want any work to be conducted on the lake or its periphery. The lake should remain a natural habitat,” says Lubna Sarawat, member of Save Our Urban Lakes.
The GHMC, however, claims that the area where the work is going on is at the boundary of the lake, and so it is legal.
