Hyderabad: Planting saplings alone cannot save Mushkin Lake

Hyderabad: The encroachment of lake beds and streams is going unabated in the city and in order to safeguard the lake from land sharks, plantation drives under 'Telangana Ku Haritha Haram' are being carried out. However, several lake protection activists claim that planting saplings alone cannot save the lakes.

Although the law prohibits dumping any waste into the Full Tank Level (FTL) zone of the lake, the Mushkin Cheruvu in Manikonda has become a dumping ground with waste dumped up to 3-feet depth. The Mushkin Cheruvu, which is spread over around 10 acres, is already encroached upon by landsharks and only a few acres are leftover and with the plantation, the lake would shrink a little more. Several lake protection activists also believe that planting saplings alone would not protect the lake from encroachments, instead it will shrink the lake. Further, waste dumping into the lake will also destroy the inflows and outflows and may also kill the natural development of the lake.

Speaking to The Hans India, city-based lake protection activist and former convener of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) Dr Lubna Sarwath said, "It is very much harmful to plant unscientific plants at the lake or on the lake bund. Recently, an attempt has been made to plant 1,000 plants under Haritha Haram on Mushkin Cheruvu bund. But planting saplings alone cannot save it." She further said that no permission was taken from the concerned department for the plantation drive. "However, it also violates the FTL boundary, and demarcation is not permitted on ground of FTL and buffer zone," Lubna said. "Only lake-friendly and lake-necessary plants can be planted not all plants can add to the beauty of the lake. Clearly, the lake cannot be saved only through plantation or by restoration of its area or by restricting the groundwater lines of the high rise constructions near it," Lubna added. However, after the permission was given for the plantation by the Joint Collector, several environmentalists and activists moved the Lake Protection Committee and the Irrigation department demanding to provide the demarcation report of the lake with sanctioned funds and material for the drive. Another activist Jasveen Jairath explained that Mushkin Lake has been encroached and no action has been initiated to remove these encroachments. Moreover, the holding capacity of the lake has not been restored yet even after filing many complaints with the authorities concerned. She said the inflow and outflow channels were being disrupted due to garbage dumping.