Telangana: Thummalakunta Lake missing, complaint lodged to trace it
Hyderabad: Thummalakunta Lake in 10-acres at Srinagar under Maheshwaram mandal was missing as land sharks encroached it completely for constructing buildings.
The crackdown launched by HYDRAA against encroachments in lakes has now prompted the residents to initiate necessary measures to protect the lake. As part of initial their initiative, the residents led by the BJP State executive committee member Andela Sriramulu Yadav lodged a complaint with the Pahadisherif police to take necessary action against the land sharks to restore the lake by removing encroachments.
Yadav told Deccan Chronicle on Tuesday that the Thummalakunta Lake exists in 10-acres as per Telangana Irrigation and Command Area Development (I&CAD) records. This was confirmed by I&CAD in response to an RTI petition filed by Racha Laxman of Ravirala regarding tanks in Maheswaram mandal.
Irrigation department Deputy Executive Engineer B Sujatha on March 30, 2024 gave a list of tanks in Mankhal, Baghmankhal, Malkisdasguda, Srinagar, Ravirala, Kongarakhured and Sardarnagar village in Maheswaram mandal in the RTI reply.
The name of Thummalakunta with Full Tank Level (FTL) with an area of 10 acres was clearly mentioned in the reply. But on ground the lake is missing and only concrete structures were seen, Yadav said, adding the residents can see sluice.
Sujatha informed that there was no specific record for nalas and streams, which feed water to tanks maintained by the Irrigation department. The topo sheets of Survey of India show all the nalas and streams feeding the tanks. In the reply, she advised the RTI petitioner to obtain the same information from the Survey of India in Uppal and added that she furnished the information as per the petitioner’s request only. Yadav said he along with the petitioner Racha Laxman lodged the complaint with the Pahadisherif police requesting to take necessary steps to trace the missing lake and protect it from the land sharks.
“We got an acknowledgement from the police for our complaint,” Yadav said, adding that the residents would continue their fight to restore and protect the lake from land grabbers.