Baam Rukn Ud Dowla has disappeared. The small lake in front of the S.V.P. National Police Academy can no longer be seen from the road that connects Aramghar to the Shamshabad Airport.
While the land abutting the lake was barricaded in 2014, now a new road leads to the wall where the lake waters used to lap the shore. A portion of the S-shaped wall remains where a few young men can be spotted fishing in the lake early in the morning or in the evening.
“When the barricades were erected, we raised a complaint with the civic body. Officials came and surveyed the area and the people who erected the barricade said they were only protecting the lake. But, now even the land which used to go under water during monsoon has been filled up. The FTL markers have also disappeared,” says S.Q. Masood, a local resident and social activist.
Housing colonies
A few housing colonies that came up in early 2000 behind the lake have had to face frequent flooding and still battle water stagnation problem even after a small downpour. A 1976 Survey of India topography map shows an S shaped lake abutting the road. A 2000 satellite image shows a small lake but open ground reaching up to the road. Satellite imagery shows this open space and water level fluctuate over a period of time.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority carried out a survey, it marked out the contours and the Full Tank Level (FTL) of the lake in 2014 and it shows the lake bund wall reaching up to the road. Now the whole area has been filled up and the lake bund has disappeared. A 2017 satellite image shows the extent of the the massive earthen work in the area including the wide road that has been laid on the lake bed.
Activists’ campaign
On Wednesday, activists took to twitter and tagged political and bureaucratic machinery: “Sir, @KTRTRS @arvindkumar_ias @HMDA_Gov @Collector_RRD @GHMCOnline @CommissionrGHMC water body Rukn-Ud-Dowla encroached to construct colony, illegal construction on lake bed is going on, we have lodged several complaints but in vain. Do needful to protect this.”
The normally active politicians and bureaucrats have not responded to the tweet so far. The lake has a history dating back to Nizam Ali Khan’s time when Rukn Ud Dowlah was his prime minister. For generations, drinking water for the Nizam’s family was sourced from this lake and used to be transported by pack of animals.
Now, the lake has disappeared. And with it, one of the relics of Nizam’s rule and lifestyle has disappeared.
