Hyderabad: The downstream areas of the once-picturesque Hussainsagar lake, built some 450 years ago, face a serious risk of contamination due to seepage and hazardous effluents that pharmaceutical companies discharge into the lake.
Experts claim that some pharmaceutical companies are dumping hazardous waste that entered the lake as a result of heavy rainfall. They believe that heavy metals, chemicals, some of which are known as "forever chemicals”, and antibiotics from pharmaceutical companies are likely to contaminate the groundwater in the downstream areas, even before it joins the Musi at Golnaka.
"Some pollutants in the lake are more hazardous than those that enter the Musi upstream because they do not dissolve completely. The industrial waste from pharma companies, channelled through four nalas in the catchment area of the Hussainsagar, is the major contributor. There are greater odds of groundwater becoming contaminated by seepage wherever the water is blocked,” claimed D. Narasimha Reddy, an environmentalist.
The Musi river, which is already seeing the highest outflows of the season from Osmansagar, continued to receive inflows from the Hussainsagar where the water is above the 513.41-metre mark over the past several days. The outflows from Hussainsagar have remained between 1,500 and 2,000 cusecs.
“The effects of pollution harming the drinking water and soil in villages along the Musi's banks cannot be assessed immediately until it joins with the Krishna river. These waters not only pollute Peerzadiguda's ground waters, but also lakes and farmlands before they get to Suryapet's Musi project,” he added.
Although the government has plans to establish sewerage treatment plants (STPs) to reduce the risk of contamination in Hussainsagar, these plans have not yet materialised. For the past three decades, environmental campaigners have pushed for a solution to the pollution problem as it has only become worse.
"Yesterday, I noticed froth floating in the Kukatpally channel. These are industrial contaminants. In addition to the lake's encroachment, some of the crucial channels, such as Balkapur nala, which would have contributed to fresh water, were cut-off from Hussainsagar,” lamented Lubna Sarwat, a lake protection activist.
