Water from hundreds of colonies has inundated acres of private patta land.
Hyderabad: Not all lakes in Hyderabad and its outskirts are shrinking. The Masab Cheruvu located on the Nagarjunasagar Highway, has almost doubled in its size, with sewage from hundreds of colonies being let into the water body.
Locals blame the unregulated urban growth of Badangpet and Turkayamjal municipalities which has resulted in nearly 100 colonies diverting their sewage into the lake, instead of into the Musi river. The situation had worsened with the devastating floods that the city had witnessed in 2020.
J. Janga Reddy, a farmer from Gurramguda, said that his three acres of agricultural land, where he used to grow grass for his cattle was submerged in the water. He points out that neither his forefathers, who have been cultivating the land, nor any aged person of his village, have seen the water filling their fields in the last 80 years.
Jonnada Ram Reddy, a farmer from Kurmaguda, had lost nine acres of his agricultural land in the flood and sewage water. He showed the village land records to confirm the full tank level (FTL) of Masab Cheruvu.
The water body is located in Survey No. 137 and its FTL limit is 320 acres and 20 guntas as per the ‘Chessal Pahani’ and first revenue records of 1954. The size of the lake has increased to over 500 acres with continued sewage flow from 50 major colonies including Srinivasapuram, Siripuram, Veerannaguda among others in the Badangpet Municipal limits. The sewage from another 40 colonies from Ragannaguda and Manneguda is entering the lake, he said.
Besides over tens of acres of agricultural land, 600 plots and dozens of houses of Aditya Nagar Phase-II, which was developed in 1992, release their sewage into the lake.
Pratap, who constructed his house in the colony in 2008, said that the sewage water has surrounded their houses as the weir gates of the lake which normally used to maintain the water levels turned dysfunctional. While laying out the Outer Ring Road, the contractors took away the soil from the lake bed by developing a ramp over a weir and also closed the vents.
A local resident Raja Goud said that HYDRAA commissioner A.V. Ranganath had visited their colony recently and assured to find a solution for their problem.
Raja Goud said the lake water extended over private lands of the farmers. The sewage and flood water crossed hundreds of metre beyond the boundaries fixed for FTL limits in Shikam land and Shikam patta lands, which are also called ‘ek fasal patta’ land by authorities, he said.
