Hyderabad: Officials visit Kapra lake, defend new walking track

Hyderabad: Municipal officials visited Kapra lake on Wednesday following the controversy over the building of a walkway around the lake. The GHMC and a group of environmentalists are locked in a legal tangle over the issue.  

Following the inspection officials said that the walkway was “intended to protect the lake from unauthorised dumping and to have a continuous vigil along the lake boundary.” 

The walking track would be along the fenced boundary and built with gravel excavated from the lake bed. A massive plantation drive is planned along the lake boundary covering the width of the buffer zone to promote greenery, and the walking track would come in the middle of such plantation. The track would have drains along the side to carry storm water, which in turn would lead to the pipe culverts to be built at inlet points, so aquatic life wouldn’t be endangered, said the North Zone municipal commissioner. 

The GHMC officials said the walkway would constitute no violation of law as was being alleged. Rather, the GHMC was taking initiatives to protect the lake from encroachment.