Govt to partner with local communities to preserve lakes

Chandanagar: In a move to preserve and protect the local lakes of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the state government is all set to partner with local communities. 

This is good news for the local lakeshore communities which include residents, fishermen and environmentally conscious people. Also, public have been reading about 20 lakes of Hyderabad that have been identified for restoration and some funds also earmarked for that purpose. Gangaram Lake Restoration Foundation (GLARE), a part of connected communities of Chandanagar, met Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi on June 9 to discuss the proposals and seek his help for ensuring local community involvement in lake restoration activity. Gandhi assured full support and asked the communities to work with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to understand their plans.

P V Rao president, Aparna Hillpark Federation, Srihari Reddy (Retired Bank Executive) and GLARE team met the top decision-making GHMC and civic authorities on June 25 and spoke at length about the plans for lake restoration.  The Officials put great emphasis on the fact that the task needs active community support and involvement in terms of protecting the lake, solid waste management, stopping the dumping etc. The GLARE team requested that as a part of overall restoration plan, sewage diversion from the lake to be taken up on top priority.

The GHMC agreed and assured the team that restoration plan would be created after considering suggestions from the community. There would a separate restoration plan for each lake considering its unique condition. They further added that post-restoration local fishermen community should be encouraged to earn their livelihood from the lake once again. On behalf of connected communities of Chandanagar, the team promised that they would fully support the GHMC in its task and once the major activities are completed, the local community would work together with local civic authorities to preserve the lake.