Ameenpur lake gets helping hands

Hyderabad: They are still many lakes in the city that are neglected and also are in a pathetic condition with trash surrounding it. One such lake that lies in the dilapidated condition is Ameenpur Lake, so to protect the lake and create awareness among people, a city-based Earth Needs You- Impacts by VISVA Sustainable Foundation have been organising cleaning up drives and on Sunday the NGO has completed 150 days of cleaning up and self-awareness initiative.

This initiative includes various organisations like TS Biodiversity Board, Ameenpur Municipality, Hyderabad Birding Pals, Animal Warriors Conservation Society, Wild Telangana, HCR - Hyderabad Cycling Revolution, Goodeebag and Relief Riders Hyderabad.

Ameenpur Lake is India’s first biodiversity heritage site in urban areas, where one can witness close to 300 species of birds.

“It’s a weekly activity for us to preserve the biodiversity at the lake in our own strength and it’s completely a voluntary activity, anyone can join us. We take various activities that include cleanup and self-awareness, toothbrush exchange, coconuts without straws, biodiversity watching, and awareness on solidwaste and we have collected around 181.5 kgs of waste. Started our activities at the lake with five of my friends on March 28, 2021, and now we are 500+ volunteers who are helping in various lake cleaning-up activities across eight water bodies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” said Vinay Manchala, Director, of VISVA Sustainable Foundation.

Ravi Sambari, a member of Relief Riders Hyderabad, said: “We have joined the NGO in their lake cleaning up an initiative to bring awareness among people about the benefit of cycling and also to spread awareness on how cleaning the lake and segregating waste with following proper method is also important.”