Sanagreddy: Proposed pharma hub in Nyalkal effluents will pollute river Manjeera

Manjeera is home to more than 300 bird species, including 117 international and national migrants.

Sangareddy: Telangana Government appears to have chosen a wrong location to set up a pharma hub in Nyalkal mandal of Sangareddy district. There are apprehensions about the chosen site leading to an environmental disaster as the effluents released by the pharma companies would straight away flow into the river Manjeera whenever the companies begin functioning. The stiff opposition from villagers and environmentalists to the government move is based on this apprehension.

The Government proposed that nearly 2,003 acres of land in Dappur, Vaddy and Malgi villages of Nyalkal mandal be acquired for the pharma hub. Howevever, what the Govenment did not consider was the fact that prominent streams like Nyalkal vagu, Chakiri Vagu and Kota Vagu, meander through these villages and join river Manjeera. These three streams would join on the upstream of the Chenegapally project.

Downstream the project, the stream will be called Peddavagu. Peddavagu will merge with Manjeera after after flowing through Humnapur, Mariyampur and Chalki villages. The proposed pharma hub is located in Manjeera’s catchment area and just 15 kilometres away from river Manjeera.

Since the river is the only source of drinking water for Sangareddy and parts of Hyderabad, and it was also declared a wildlife sanctuary, the effluents would pose a great danger for both humans and wildlife.

Manjeera is home to more than 300 bird species, including 117 international and national migrants. It is also home to over 500 mugger crocodiles. The Dappuru Cheruvu and other lakes located in these villages and along the streams will also get polluted once the pharma companies get operationalised.

Apart from Manjeera River, the 2,003 acres identified land for pharma had a good number of hills which were key for ecological balance in the area. They were also a source for cattle and other livestock gathering. While the farmers may get compensation for their land, the people who live by grazing cattle, goats, and sheep would lose their source of livelihood once the land is acquired.

Citing all these reasons, the farmers strongly oppose the government’s decision to set up the pharma hub in Nyalkal mandal. Moreover, the farmers were demanding land for the land since cultivation was the only source of learning livelihood for them.

Speaking to Telangana Today a farmer, Begari Vittal of Dappur, said the villagers would not allow acquisition of their lands to the project at any cost since they knew nothing to earn except growing crops in their lands. Satyamma, a woman farmer, urged the government to shift the proposed project from their village since pharmaceutical companies would ruin their lives.