Nearly half of lakes in GHMC encroached under BRS rule: Bhatti

Hyderabad: The BRS government has resorted to massive encroachments of water bodies, with 182 out of 417 lakes within GHMC getting completely encroached, while 76 partially encroached.

There were 503 lakes between GHMC limits and Outer Ring Road (ORR) jurisdiction. Out of this, 62 water bodies were encroached completely and 102 were encroached partially.

The numbers were revealed in a press release issued on Friday after Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka analysed the report of water bodies in the city with assistance of Telangana Remote Sensing Application Centre.

In the statement, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the state government will take steps to restore the water bodies that have been encroached. A comprehensive field level survey of the encroachments will be done and the lakes will be brought to their previous form.

The decision to revive and rejuvenate these lakes was taken after a review meeting held on Friday at the Secretariat related to lakes and ponds in Greater Hyderabad limits and ORR jurisdiction.