Development, Poor Oversight Drain Out Lakes in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Can anyone imagine a water body which is one-tenth of Hussainsagar lake just going off the map? One cannot say for sure about other cities, but it definitely happened in Hyderabad. Within 45 years, the 4,09,000-square metre Thummalakunta lake has disappeared. The lake has given way to several residential colonies in Saidabad and Saroornagar.

An analysis of satellite imaging of 54 lakes taken in 1979 and 2023, secured by the HYDRAA from the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) shows that 40 lakes or nearly 75 per cent of lakes have shrunk by half.

While Thummalakunta has been wiped out, Pedda Cheruvu near Badangpet near Balapur has almost gone non-existent, with just four per cent of it remaining on the map in the form of Meerpet Talab. Pedda Cheruvu was 30,83,000 square metres in size in 1979. Encroachments have reduced it to 1,14,000 square metres. Similarly, Nalla heruvu at Uppal, Pedda Cheruvu, at Kuntloor near Hayathnagar and Miryalguda Cheruvu near Safilguda have shrunk by 90 per cent.

There are 11 lakes which have lost between 80 to 89 per cent of its land. Ramanthapur cheruvu-1 lost 88 per cent of its area, Kompally lake-1 88 per cent, Khajiguda lake 88 per cent, Yapral lake 86 per cent, Jillelaguda lake 85 per cent, Gurram Cheruvu 85 per cent, Kompally lake 84 per cent, Bandlaguda lake 83 per cent, Old Alwal pond 82 per cent, Palle Cheruvu 82 per cent, and Injapur cheruvu 80 per cent.

A perusal of the location of severely encroached lakes suggests that areas that most of them were out of the limits of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad or erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Secunderabad.

Quick development and poor regulatory mechanisms under gram panchayats or municipalities allowed land grabbers to convert these lakes into residential colonies.

Hussainsagar and Miralam lakes which lie the heart of the city had lesser impact, showing 21 per cent and 32 per cent shrinkage.

There were just two notable exceptions. Chennapuram Cherru, a fish pond near Dammaiguda, and Hakimpet lake have been the only water bodies that survived encroachments. While Hakimpet lake likely had the protection of the air force station, Chennapuram Cherru grew in size by 18 per cent.