Hyderabad’s Safilguda lake gets facelift
Hyderabad: An exercise that involved teams drawn from multiple units and was spread over a month to fish out tons of garbage, has finally started to yield desired results for Safilguda lake. Also known as Nadimi Cheruvu and Mini Tank Bund, the water body which once was a victim of apathy with hyacinth and dirt […]
Hyderabad: An exercise that involved teams drawn from multiple units and was spread over a month to fish out tons of garbage, has finally started to yield desired results for Safilguda lake.
Also known as Nadimi Cheruvu and Mini Tank Bund, the water body which once was a victim of apathy with hyacinth and dirt accumulating in it, has now started to sport a clean and rejuvenated look. Since the first week of March, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had deployed multiple teams to remove the accumulated waste and restore the lake to its pristine form.
According to the civic body officials, more than 70 per cent of the lake has been cleaned in the last one month, and rest of the works were underway at a brisk pace with hyacinth and garbage being taken out from the lake. “Within the next 20 days, the entire lake will be cleaned. So far, over 50 tons of hyacinth has been removed from Safilguda,” GHMC Chief Entomologist Ram Babu said.
To clean the lake, a floating trash collector was pressed into service and two heavy vehicles were deployed to transport the waste to the Jawahar Nagar dumpyard. Once the lake rejuvenation works were completed, anti-larval operations including spraying of chemicals through drones will also be taken up at the lake, officials said.
“In addition to measures that control mosquitoes, sanitation will be one of the priorities at the lake and its vicinity. Compared to many lakes in the city, the footfall at Safilguda lake is high,” a GHMC official said.
The lake also has a small island called Nadimi Bird Island, covered with thick trees, and attracts a variety of wildlife, especially migratory birds, and also a park abutting the lake popular as Safilguda lake park.
Exclusive play area for children
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is setting up an exclusive play area for children alongside the existing open gym at the lake. “Play equipment for children including slides has already been procured and it will be installed soon. The plan is to make the place as a one stop destination for all age groups,” said Godhumala Raju, GHMC Deputy Commissioner of Malkajgiri Circle.
Works being taken up at 61 lakes
A total of 61 lakes in the GHMC jurisdiction are getting rejuvenated with an estimated budget of Rs 95.54 crore. Restoration of weirs and sluice, bund strengthening and fencing are some of the works taken up at the lakes in addition to sewage diversion.
Bathukamma Kunta in LB Nagar, Nayanamma Kunta also known as Baspalli Cheruvu in Serilingampally, Appa Cheruvu and Palle Cheruvu in Rajendra Nagar are among the 61 lakes identified for rejuvenation.
In addition to these, various companies have come forward to take up rejuvenation works for 14 more lakes under their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. One such lake was Malkam Cheruvu that underwent a major transformation with the rejuvenated water body being recently inaugurated by Municipal Administration & Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao.
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