Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao wanted to clean up Hussain sagar lake and make it a drinking water source as it was earlier during the Nizam time. He also wanted to stop the pollution flowing in from the nalas and drains.
The GHMC in fact started the work. But then came this Ganesh Visarjan process. It was supposed to be shifted to Indirapark but the Ganesh Utsav Samithi refused to cooperate. The cleaning of the sagar alke rseumed after the Nimajjan process.
But the rains gods filled it up while the CM wanted to empty it and dry it for sometime to be filled up with fresh water. The Hussainsagar crossed its full tank level (FTL) , and the GHMC irrigation wing let out 2,000 cusecs of water through the vent near a star hotel. Water stood at 513.52 feet against the FTL of 513.41.
Officials said there was no danger, but residents would be alerted and requested to shift to nearby rehabilitation centres if the level crosses 513.8 feet. The lake’s catchment area measures 244 sq. km.
The Hussainsagar crossed its full tank level . It has two outflow points — at the star hotel and another at the GHMC head office. The 21 channels that lead to the vent near the hotel ends up in the surplus nala that winds its way over 5.5 km to Golnaka.
Release of a large quantity of water could endanger people especially those living along the canal in Ambedkarnagar, Sabarmatinagar, Arundhati-nagar, Subash Chandra Bose Nagar, parts of Domalguda, Bapujinagar, parts of Hima-yatnagar, Dattanagar, Sriram-nagar, Satyanagar, Ratnanagar, Shivanandanagar and Ganganagar.
About 5,000 metric tonnes of waste that was dumped in Hussain-sagar during Ganesh nimajjanam have been removed, and more still lies in the lake, officials said. The HMDA is using a waste removal vehicle and its `10-crore worth amphibious hydraulic excavator apart from deploying personnel to clean the lake, officials said.
Now KCR must think again as how to can make this as a fresh water lake to quench the thirst of the Hyderabad people. As of now all is well and there is no problem for the drinking water.
