University of Hyderabad lakes in a sorry plight

Gachibowli: They appear pristine from far, but a closer look reveals the water bodies on the campus of University of Hyderabad (UoH) are in the last leg, thanks to the indifference of both the university and the civic body. There are two lakes in the varsity: one is completely polluted and the other on the verge of meeting the same fate.

The Peacock Lake which is out of bounds for students and visitors is so polluted that no one dares go close to it, and the other water body, Buffalo Lake, is not maintained and is losing grandeur. The third lake, Parrot Lake (If one may still call it), has dried up.

Govt says it is helpless

Once an unstained lake, Peacok Lake, which derives its name from the abundance of peacocks on the university campus, is today a pale shadow of its former self. Marked under sensitive zone, the lake which is close to the Vice Chancellor's Guest House is uncared for. Neither the university nor the civic body appeared to be interested in reviving it.

Speaking to The Hans India, Ravi Jillapalli, founder of Wild Lens, a student volunteer team that is involved in the protection of biodiversity on the campus, said, "The government officials say that they cannot stop the sewage from entering the lake as there is no alternative."

Sewage water has been entering the lake since the construction of the Gachibowli Stadium in the early 2000 period. Add to it, the sewage from IIIT, Hill Ridge Villas, IVRCL and Ella Hotels too enters the Lake.

"Passing the 1.5 km stretch, the sewage water is being let into Peacock Lake for the last 20-odd years. There has been no effort from the University, barring a few meetings and a few site visits with officials from the civic body. The sheer lack of will is causing death-knell of the lake," says Ashwini, a student.

Karthik Jirra, who is pursuing PhD in Medical Sciences, says, "Last year there was an inspection of the lakes and the West Zone GHMC Commissioner Harichandana too agreed that the sewage entering the lake was polluting it no end, but in the same breath added that it was difficult to stop it as it entails a huge budget."

Student initiatives

Thanks to the students, clean-up drives are conducted in intervals. One such drive was conducted on Saturday at the Old Nursery by the university sanitary staff and Wild Lens team. The team has over the years handed over more than 100 poachers, took up lake cleaning, controlled wildfire accidents during summer, placed water tubs for deer, bird watch programmes, conducted plantation drives and came up with a novel initiative of planting a sapling on the birthday of students.

Poaching rampant

Thanks to the rich biodiversity in the campus, poachers have been running amok. The university shares a boundary wall close to the Nallagandla Lake, making it easy for people to jump over. Till date, 125 poachers were caught by the Wild Lens team members and handed over to the police. The last incident was three months ago when two youngsters were caught while setting up traps.

Stray dogs menace

Ravi says, "One Ashok of Gowlidoddi area brought stray dogs in the campus which led to the killing of several animals. The deer population declined drastically during summer due to stray dog attacks. In 2016, 44 deer died due to dog attacks. We are unable to relocate the dogs as the law does not permit. We are helpless."