Hyderabad: Government constitutes special cell for protection of lakes

Hyderabad: The State government on Monday constituted a special cell for protection of lakes in the city with a special commissioner for lakes as its head under the supervision and control of Special Chief Secretary of Urban Development, Arvind Kumar.

The government decided to appoint a special commissioner for lakes to have a focused approach for the comprehensive management of these lakes and water bodies.

This special commissioner will be responsible for preparing the master plan for each water body, mainly for the lakes, by taking into consideration the Full Tank Level/Buffer/Green Zone.

The commissioner has to manage the sewerage and construction of Sewage Treatment Plans and flow/diversion of treated water besides preventing encroachments in FTL/ buffers at water bodies and also initiate Relief and Rehabilitation for dwellers within FTL/buffer zones.

This special commissioner has to form Lake Protection Committees and ensure to take up cleaning of lakes on a regular basis to ensure lakes remain free from water Hyacinth and other flouting materials and also to take up beautification of lake precincts and take up green cover in buffer areas.

The commissioner has to coordinate with the inter-departments like Revenue, Irrigation, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) etc.

The HS&WBM circle (Hussain Sagar & Water Body Management) in GHMC is put under the control of a special commissioner with immediate effect.

The Chief Engineer of Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP) will work with the Special Commissioner (Lakes) to coordinate the Nala Development besides lakes-related works.