Foam spews out of Kukatpally lake

Hyderabad: The indifferent attitude of the civic body put the commuters of Kukatpally at risk as they were greeted by foam flying off the IDL Lake on Thursday.

Foam, which was previously restricted to the fence, is now directly hitting passersby, people in buses and other road users on the National Highway. Apart from causing trouble to the road users, the foam was seen hitting the power cables of the Metro Rail.

Residents alleged that this is not new and the condition of the lake was only deteriorating every year, despite repeatedly complaining about the degradation of the lake.

There is a need to understand the gravity of the situation as it might be catastrophic. Environmentalists pointed out that every time it rains, this has been the case for the past few years and there is no reaction from the government or civic body to fix the issue permanently.

Lake protection expert B.V. Subba Rao said, "The issue has been pointed out several times. Nobody cares about water lakes and people’s health. Not just IDL lake, several lakes in the Hyderabad will continue to foam, especially in the exit drains."

GHMC officials in their trademark response said that the water was polluted with chemicals in the IDL lake and they would coordinate with the Pollution Control Board to conduct defoaming spray to curb the foam from overflowing.

A commuter, Ms M. Nalini, said "I raised my window shields the moment I saw froth at the IDL road. Due to rains people are somewhat covered, but this might lead to diseases. This is a dangerous situation as it can go into the eyes of people."

Same was the case in Dharaninagar by Perki lake and Lingampally by Chakali Cheruvu on Thursday. Despite repeatedly raising concern, the foam continues to engulf homes at Dharani Nagar and spread near ZPHS high school in Lingampally.