Hyderabad: Mir Alam Lake stares at fresh encroachment

Rajendranagar: In areas across Rajendranagar especially around water bodies, dumping of garbage and construction material is a regular practice and in some cases it was done in a skeptical manner to poach at least a piece of land which could fetch the land sharks a good return.

Eschewing any mention of Mir Alam Lake would be completely unjust as much of the area around the lake has already been encroached, while dumping of garbage keeps going on hinting towards another fresh encroachment on the already exploited water body.

Dumping of garbage and construction material was gradually increased on a half a kilometre of Indra Nagar stretch on the banks of Mir Alam Lake close to Pillar No. 258 PVNR Expressway. GHMC staff was largely confined to carting away the garbage while heaps of construction material turned the area of the lake into landscape.

Located very opposite to Akbari Masjid-cum-Eidgah and just a stone throw away from a sewage treatment plant of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) abutting the lake, this spot was filled with heaps of trash and landfill, hinting at a possible fresh attempt to encroach the lake as the spot, stands very close to PVNR Expressway leading to Attapur, a prime area in entire Rajendranagar.

"Only few years back, the irrigation officials took up the survey of the lake area to establish the extent of encroachment. Later it was found that hundreds of houses had come up over the water body and the same was conveyed to the court by the authorities. Since then, the issue has been in a cold storage and the situation has remained unchanged," Imtiaz, a resident of Shivrampally.

"Local people are dumping the garbage and even construction material. We cleared it time and again, but the issue remained the same to which we took it with deputy commissioner Rajendranagar. We are confined only to carting away the garbage, while taking any deterrent measure solely lies with the senior officials," informed Assistant Engineer Kurua Jagdish.

However, attempts to contact the Deputy Commissioner GHMC Rajendranagar, Jagan proved futile as he did not respond to multiple calls for comment.