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It’s a free for all dumping zone

Osama Salman | January 27, 2012 | 0 Comments

“We used to consume water directly from this lake about 10 years ago. In fact, whenever people ran out of water, they used to fill a bucket from the lake and use it. Now the lake is so polluted that the water can’t be used for anything,” said Sideshwar Goud, member, Save Our Urban Lake (SOUL) who was born in the area and continues to live here. The NGO has been crying hoarse about the deteriorating condition of Kamuni Cheruvu, a lake near the Shamshabad Airport.

Kamuni Cheruvu is a 25 acre lake, that until 10 years ago, was the pride of the residents who used this lake extensively. The lake is now polluted, and what’s worse is that it has been encroached even by the Andhra Pradesh Cental Power Distribution Company Limited (APCPDCL) sub-station.

The APCPDCL sub-station is literally in the middle of the lake, blatantly ignoring the Full Tank Level (FTL) limit, says Jasveen Jairath, member of SOUL. “It is surprising how the government has chosen to ignore the sub-station when it is clearly violating lake rules. The sub-station extends onto the waters so much so that, part of the water seeps into the boundary. In fact, there are electrical poles inside this water body,” pointed out Jasveen.

The assistant engineer of the sub-station on Kamuni Cheruvu , however, remained unavailable for comment.

Jasveen added that the FTL, marked by stones, is wrongly marked. “If they are marked correctly, the water should not cross the FTL stones, but the water crosses the stones. How does this indicate the full tank level?” questions Jasveen.

Misused by residents

The proprietor of a leading jewellery store has allegedly encroached eight acres of land near the lake where even the boundary wall extends onto the lake. Sideshwar said that these people are well-known and having great political contacts and that is why no one, not even the government, can question them.

Apart from the sewerage water that is channeled into the lake, residents also freely throw garbage into the water. “There are four major restaurants in the area. They dispose their waste into the lake throughout the day and add to the pollution. All these restaurants have dedicated sewerage lines which empty in the water body. We have tried to stop these restaurants, but they refuse to comply,” said Sideshwar.

The irrigation department had sent a notice to the four restaurants for disposing waste into the lake in September, 2011. “But that hasn’t deterred them. They continue as they please,” said Sideshwar. To the naked eye, the water in Kamuni Cheruvu will appear green and infected with solid waste floating around.

Postnoon encountered a man who came on a scooter to dump waste and another who relieved himself into the lake.

Advamma, who has been living here since age 7, said that the airport’s proximity to the lake was responsible for its degradation. “No one had even heard of this lake before the airport was set up. It was only after Shamshabad came into the limelight during the realty boom that people started coming here. This has proved to be a bane. The lake is in a neglected state. It needs to be restored immediately,” she opined. Despite repeated attempts, the officials of the Lake Conservation, HMDA, remained unavailable for comment.

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