If Unprotected, Hyd Won’t Have Lakes by 2040: Ranganath

 Hyderabad: Urbanisation in Telangana is taking place 12 per cent faster than the national average, HYDRAA commissioner A.V. Ranganath stated on Tuesday. Fortyseven per cent of the state is urbanised and this would grow to 75 per cent by 2050. Such rapid urbanisation has led to a significant loss of natural resources, including lakes, he said.

Ranganath said 61 per cent of Hyderabad’s lakes had disappeared, with the remaining 39 per cent requiring immediate protection to prevent their extinction in the next 15 years. The state government established HYDRAA to safeguard lakes, public parks, roads and government land from encroachments, he said at seminar on lake at National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI).

“The HYDRAA has integrated GHMC's enforcement, vigilance and disaster management wing and is working with agencies like NRSC, Survey of India and Telangana survey department to map and protect lake boundaries and buffer zones”, he explained.

NEERI director Dr A. N. Vaidya, Hyderabad zonal chief scientist Dr Shaik Basha and other scientists and experts participated in the seminar.