Hyacinth difficult to weed out from Srisailam reservoir

KURNOOL: Spread over 20 hectares, water hyacinth weed on Srisailam reservoir have been profusely growing, throwing challenges to state engineering department to contain it. This is by far the largest growth spotted on the Srisailam reservoir since its inception. Hyacinth would only thrive in polluted waters. Srisailam is a fresh water reservoir as Krishna water that flow here is fresh. Krishna river is joined by tributaries like Tungabhadra and Handri  at Sangameshwaram. The problems of Krishna are compounded by the toxic waste remnants of tributaries, said an Environmental Engineer.

He said that effluents in the Tungabhadra river and Handri river down stream caused this probled. The city surroundings of Kurnool with highly polluting industries on the banks of Tungabhadra are the immediate cause of the disaster at Srisailam fresh water, it is learnt. Environmentalists say that   the vast stretch of  green carpet on the backwaters of Srisailam was hitherto unknown. The water that is being pumped to serve the needs of pilgrims carries with it the unhygienic impurities and water absorbed microbial compounding the problem, said an Engineer at the Srisailam dam site. The fast growth of Water Hyacinth allowed the plant to build huge populations in its ranges of introduction, developing dense mats on the surface of the water and becoming a major weed problem.

Irrigation officials are unable to fix the trajectory of hyacinth weed spread over 39 kilometers in Srisailam reservoir. When contacted, the  Chief Engineer C Narayana Reddy said that the dimensions for taking up cleaning activities are hard to ascertain as the weed was floating. Engineers are scared of mapping as drawings and actual topography was liable to. be changed. He said they are negotiating with cleaning agency and work would be  started soon. Afflicted with worst aquatic weed in the world, Srisailam now poses one of the biggest health hazards. It is even clogging irrigation canals causing water blockage.

Srisailam Superindent Engineer Mallikarjuna Reddy said that quotations have been finalised and the work would be taken up soon. He said that the hyacinth has now spread over 20 hectares across the reservoir. The standard rate contact has been approved and  the contractors will have to be  identified, he said. It may be mentioned that Avani Technologies, a Hyderabad based firm with hands on experience in clearing the weed at Hussainsagar lake was approached  first but they have quoted '5 crores for the job, it is learnt.