Durgam Cheruvu overflows

Civic body’s plans likely to reduce its size, say activists

The Durgam Cheruvu looks cleaner with the water hyacinth flushed out due to good monsoon rains this year in the city, but the lake is being filled from the western side. Serish Nanisetti

On the opposite side of the malls and IT offices, there is a thunderous roar as water from Durgam Cheruvu gushes out.

The sluice gates of the dam have been raised over the last 15 days to lower the water level. The water hyacinth which had covered the lake like a blanket in summer has almost disappeared except for a few specimens that float and are flushed out of the openings.

Only a few days earlier, the water level in the lake rose rapidly and entered houses in the Kavuri Hills area and reached up to the baby pond constructed for immersion of Ganesh idols. The water then flows out, meanders and reaches the Malkham Cheruvu which is also filled to the brim.

Flooding

During the recent localised flooding in Gachibowli area, water from the lake was one of the compounding factors for affecting the traffic flow beside the blockage of water pipeline near the Biodiversity Park.

The situation is likely to get worse, as the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is planning to build sedimentation tanks or wetland ponds in the lake near the inlet to prevent growth of water hyacinth. According to a statement issued by GHMC: “Regular maintenance in the wetlands is easy and economical when compared to cleaning the entire lake. To prevent sewage from entering the lakes and divert into the nearby sewer drains.”

In a separate measure, the GHMC has pegged the cost of removal of water hyacinth at approx ₹ 18.44 crore.

Holding capacity

Civic activists argue that the holding capacity of lakes has already shrunk in the city due to various development activities and this will further worsen the situation. “Once the water is diverted and construction activity is taken up in the lake bed, we will have no lake left. Where will be the lake once the walking track, baby immersion ponds, fencing and ornamental plantations are carried out in the lake periphery,” said an activist. By building 25 baby ponds on lake beds, the GHMC has reduced the storage capacity of lakes by 51.38 million litres.

According to GHMC’s own figures 79 out of the 185 lakes did not reach the full tank level mark though the city received nearly 60% higher rainfall than the norm. Back of the envelope calculation shows that the city received 23.29 TMC ft water over the 100 days of monsoon.

After the October 2 downpour, the Durgam Cheruvu reached 0.30 m below FTL but now the level is being reduced artificially. “They opened the gates on the other side and after that the water level has begun to drop,” says a sentry.