Deccan Chronicle 09.11.2009

40 sewage plants will be set up

Hyderabad, Nov. 8: Plans are afoot to clean up the waters of the lakes.

Mr Zafarullah Khan, executive engineer (lakes department) with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), says there are plans to set up 40-odd sewage treatment plants so that untreated sewage is not dumped in the lakes.

He claims that all the major lakes have been cleaned in the past and their fish-yielding capacity has increased.

Domestic and industrial waste is dumped in the lakes on a daily basis.

For example, more than 25 tonnes of sewage from the newly constructed Hi-tech City is dumped in the Durgamcheru lake every day.

Various non-government organisations have been working to save the lakes, especially from the menace of plastic. They have compelled the authorities to conduct cleanliness drives at major lakes.

“In May 2009 we carried out operations at the Gurunadheyu Lake at Miyapur, from which 15 tonnes of garbage was taken out,” said Mr P. Rama Rao, a volunteer working with Andhra Pradesh Environment Connect, an NGO.

The Andhra Pradesh Environmental Commission has also been involved in the effort to save the lakes.

“We have approached the HMDA and other civic authorities to clean up the lakes and prevent violations of the Water, Lakes and Trees Act 2002,” said Ms C. S. Ramalaxmi, head of the AP Environment Commission.

She says the commission has been suggesting to the government that it set up sewage treatment plants. “We are conducting awareness programmes with the help of volunteers and environmentalists to stop violations of the Act so that the natural flora and fauna of the lakes is preserved,” Ms Ramalaxmi sai.