Mir Alam Tank threatens zoo’s existence
Cracks have developed on the bund of the Mir Alam Tank
By : coreena suares
Update: 2015-08-29 06:33 GMT
Hyderabad: Cracks have developed on the bund of the Mir Alam Tank, which holds an immediate threat to the Nehru Zoological Park. The zoo is already facing leakage from the bund. If the damage is not repaired at the earliest, Asia’s biggest zoo could be washed out.
The cause of the cracks is the growing water pressure owing to the 12-feet pathway being constructed by the GHMC and the increasing number of encroachments on the tank.
The GHMC is filling up the pathway around the tank which is pushing the water causing hydraulic pressure, without any assessment on the dam safety and strength, experts said.
The park is located downstream of the Mir Alam Tank, the moats around the enclosures where the animals are kept, are filled with water from the tank. There is also a risk to the lives of the animals.
Mr B.V. Subba Rao, expert and director on integrated resource management said, “The cracks were spotted in July this year during an inspection by private bodies. Water is slowly seeping in through these fissures. The lake restoration activity (12-feet ring bund) and unending encroachments is not only shrinking the size of the lake but accelerating the hydraulic pressure. The GHMC is creating a pathway without verifying its strength, dam safety and division of irrigation. Any breach of the bund will wash out the zoo.”
The full tank level of the lake is 535.485 meters, with the maximum water level being 536.15 meters. The hydrographic survey said that the tank has maximum depths near the foreshore at the northwestern side.
Polluted water costs zoo Rs 2 crore:
The Nehru Zoological Park is shelling out more than Rs 2 crore annually to purchase drinking and borewell water because the groundwater is highly contaminated. The groundwater is polluted by effluents from the industrial area. The industrial estate is located in the catchment area of the Sivarampally cheruvu. The industrial effluents find their way into Noor Mohammad kunta, and then into the Sivarampally Cheruvu and finally joins the Mir Alam Tank.
Sewerage from the five major residential areas in the vicinity also contribute to the pollution in the tank. Thirdly, the municipal solid waste generated in the residential colonies located along the tank is being dumped into the lake. In addition, waste generated by commercial activities are also dumped there.
Dhobi ghats at several places along the periphery of the tank also add to the pollution. “We pay Rs 12.75 lakh per month for water. For the visitors and animals, we use tap water. The Zoological Park annually pays the water board over Rs 2 crore. It requires water for the visitors, animals and gardening,” said an official of the Nehru Zoological Park. The Mir Alam Tank water is only used for the lawns, he said.
This year, in order to further treat the water coming from the tank, the zoo authorities have sanctioned Rs 2.5 crore to construct a 3 million litre per day capacity sewerage treatment plant.