Rejuvenation of lake moves at snail's pace

• Though the water hyacinth is being removed the sewage water is still causing malodorous fumes

• Earlier, the corporation planned to take up its revival with Rs 10 crore, but shelved it later

• A private company spending close to Rs 5 crore on clearing lake as part of CSR activities

Raidurgam: Despite being in the news several times for froth and poor condition, the city's flagship pollution avatar, the Malkam Cheruvu in Raidurgam continues to receive the bulk of Hyderabad's untreated sewage and waste.

Half-hearted restoration efforts have failed to show results from the corporation. In 2017, the lake was been taken under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative by a private company and all the restoration works were been carried out by them.

When contacted, the Assistant Executive for Lakes and Irrigation GHMC (West Zone), Nagraj, said, "Earlier around Rs 10 crore proposal was represented for complete rejuvenation of the lake back in 2017 which was stalled due to corporation issues. Later, a private company came forward and adopted the lake under their CSR initiative, from 2017 till date around Rs 5 crore has been spent on the the rejuvenation of lake."

"With the help of the CSR initiative, the water hyacinth is been removed but later the issue was stuck up for a year within court because of internal corporation issues. The court later ordered the corporation to carry out four activities to restore the lake," added Nagraj.

The locals claim the lake is not getting enough attention from the corporation which is the reason they have to face consequences. According to the locals, the lake still leaves stench which is causing distress to the nearby locals as many are even falling sick.

"Though the water hyacinth is being removed the sewage water is still causing the lake to leave a malodorous fumes which increases after dawn which attracts a lot of mosquitoes," shares Syed Sheeraz Hussain a resident of Gayathri homes.

"Measures should be taken to clean this lake. Due to its loss of original size and the drainage water being mixed into the lake the biodiversity is been affected a lot. Otherwise, the lake is beautiful," he added further.