City’s Shah Hatim Lake dying a slow death with loads of debris

Hyderabad: The historical Shah Hatim Talab or Shatam Lake adjacent to Golconda Fort, which was once spread across an area of 104 acres, has now been reduced to about 20 acres. The Qutb Shahi-era Shah Hatim Talab is dying a slow, unnatural death due to large-scale dumping of construction waste, encroachment from all sides and discharge of sewage into it.

What’s more, over 80 per cent of the remaining lake is covered by water hyacinth, turning it into a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Shah Hatim Talab Lake will be the next in line to disappear from the cityscape. The lake has now turned into a dumping site for discarded household goods, construction waste, and tons of plastic, which is seen floating in different forms. Though the civic body initiated several works, it failed to save the lake and prevent the surrounding areas from flooding during rains.

There are two major components when it comes to lakes — Full Tank Level (FTL) and Buffer Zone. An FTL is the maximum amount of water that the tank or lake is designed to hold. However, since the draining happens slowly, the water body can expand beyond the FTL, and this stretch is known as the Buffer Zone.

As per the official data, the Shah Hatim Lake spreads across an area of 41.109 acres as per survey in 2014, and the area of the lake up to FTL is 70.833 acres. The FTL of the lake is 518.300m and the bund length was 876.737m. However, from 41 acres, now it has been reduced to hardly 20 acres.

Osman Al Hajri, a Congress leader and a resident of Tolichowki said that due to the irresponsive behavior of the concerned officials, the lake is slowly dying. “Firstly, the entire surface of the lake is covered with water hyacinth and has now turned into a mosquito-breeding spot. Also, land sharks are attempting to encroach further by dumping construction waste. I request the government to save Shah Hatim Talab from land grabbers,” he added.

Mohammed Asif Hussain Sohail, an activist said, “The concerned department which meant to save water bodies must save the lake from further encroachments and preserve it by clearing the construction, debris and other waste, also water hyacinth and give a proper channel to the lake with its inlets and outlets,” said Asif Hussain.

Meanwhile, in order to reduce the capacity of water in Shah Hatim Lake, a new outlet was built by the civic body to ensure the smooth passage of rainwater into river Musi.