A dying lake

Hyderabad's pride, the Hussain Sagar, one of the biggest man-made lakes, is slowly losing its glory. With sewage and industrial waste being dumped into the lake, people cringe at the stench. It has become impossible, they say, to walk down the otherwise beautiful Necklace Road.

In spite of the well-maintained parks and gardens on Necklace Road, the lake’s banks are an ugly site. The stagnant water on the banks has turned murky and is littered with plastic bags, bottles and paper waste. A number of restaurants and hotels on the lake’s periphery dump solid waste into the lake.

The Hussain Sagar lake was created on Musi river in 1562 by Hazrat Hussain Shah during the reign of Ibrahim Quli Qutub Shah. The original lake was spread across 24 sq km. It has now shrunk to less than half the size. The state Government is making efforts to stem the rot and revive the lake but an ambitious project to restore it is stuck due to mismanagement as too many agencies are involved.

The state government had mooted The Hussain Sagar and Catchment Areas Improvement Project in July 2004. As part of the Rs 300-crore project—with aid from the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation—flow of untreated waste into the lake was to be checked by laying an interceptor trunk pipeline around the lake. “More sewage treatment plants (STPs), laying of sewerage network in the catchment areas and monitoring of peripheral sewer lines which open into the lake are being planned under the project,” Municipal Administration and Urban Development Koneru Ranga Rao said.

However, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation—which was supposed to have laid nets and mesh to prevent solid waste from getting in the lake—hasn’t done its work yet.

While the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is the nodal agency, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board also failed to complete their part of the project. The HMWSSB could not provide the peripheral ring sewers around the lake to prevent pollutants from entering the lake. The most important part of the project was the setting up of two sewerage treatment plants which are supposed to receive the industrial effluents and domestic sewage.

HUDA Chief Engineer Vivek Deshmukh says there are several components in the project and each is progressing at its own pace. “The tenders for setting up two STPs will be opened next week and work will start next week. These two STPs will receive effluents and domestic sewage and release treated water into the Hussain Sagar lake. A shore development plan is also being worked out. Companies are being shortlisted for cleaning and desilting the lake,” Deshmukh said. The entire lake revival project is expected to be completed by 2010.

Till then, scrunch your noses as you walk down Necklace Road.

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